The rising star of Australian athletics who received her first medal from Michelle Jenneke aged just nine ends up running against the famous hurdler
- Life comes full circle for a rising star
- The glamorous new hurdler met the idol as a kid
- Jenneke is still dancing in front of millions
Rising Australian athlete Tiahna Skelton resisted the temptation to perform a little jig at the start line when she showed up to race her longtime 100m hurdles idol Michelle Jenneke earlier this year.
Ten years earlier, as a nine-year-old Little As runner from Maitland, NSW, Skelton won a regional 80m hurdles race and first met her then-teenage idol Jenneke, who was on hand to hand her over to her. the gold medal .
Skelton was thrilled because a few months earlier, Jenneke had performed her famous start line dance while representing Australia at the 2012 World Junior Athletics Championships in Barcelona.
The cameras caught it. Her youthful exuberance, combined with her lively smile and model-like good looks, made the jig go viral and made her a global social media sensation.
Aged nine in Sydney NSW, hurdler Tiahna Skelton met her internet sensation idol Michelle Jenneke when she presented her with a gold medal
Roll 10 years forward and the pair met again, this time as rivals vying for the national 100m hurdles title, which dance queen Jenneke won.
Two months later, she had half a million Instagram followers and was a model.
Skelton was one of those fans.
Fast forward 10 years and Jenneke is still dancing on the starting line and modeling while preparing for the Paris Olympics, but Skelton, now 19, is next to her on the starting blocks.
Both were vying for the Australian 100m title, which Jenneke won in 12.77 seconds, with Skelton finishing sixth with a time of 13.56 seconds.
Jenneke’s races over the past summer have put her back in contention and she looks certain – barring injury – of making Team Australia part of the Paris Olympics next year.
Meanwhile, Skelton is only two or three points behind at the moment. She has a second string to her bow as she is also a nationally ranked 400m hurdles runner.
Skelton was so thrilled to be on the starting line against her idol recently that she took to TikTok and Instagram, posting a video of the medal ceremony and then showing her next to her idol during of the national final of the 100 m hurdles.
Tiahna Skelton (pictured) has her sights set on the Paris Olympics in 2024, just yards from Jenneke, who is setting Australia’s standard for the 100m hurdles
Skelton is pictured easily claiming NSW Country 100m hurdles gold earlier this year
Jenneke is the national champion in the 100m hurdles and had a career in modeling after her world-famous dance at the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics.
Moving up to the senior ranks is proving a great learning curve for Skelton, who has won just about everything as a junior, from under-18 gold in Oceania in the 400m hurdles, to the national under-18 crown. 20 years in the 400m hurdles in 2019.
Earlier this year, she burst onto the national landscape by winning the NSW Country 100m open title and competing in the national open 100m hurdles final.
She, too, is focusing on the Paris Olympics next year.
Meanwhile, Jenneke, who turns 30 next month, is training in Europe as a guest athlete in prestigious Diamond League fixtures.
Her best 100m times make her one of the top 15 hurdlers in the world and a promoter’s dream, as her jigs not only went viral but also landed her a photo op once in the world. vaunted Swimsuit edition of Sports Illustrated.
She performed her dance at the Commonwealth Games in Birmingham to thunderous applause and all the cameras will be on her at the Olympics, hoping it will be the same.
