Dancing Jenneke into semis

Dancing Australian Michelle Jenneke has booked a spot in the 100m hurdles semi-finals in Beijing.

Australia's Michelle Jenneke

Australian hurdler Michelle Jenneke has booked a spot in the 100m hurdles semi-finals in Beijing. (AAP)

Australian hurdler Michelle Jenneke has taken her pre-race dancing routine onto the global stage.

Drawn alongside American 2008 Olympic champ Dawn Harper-Nelson in the third of five 100m hurdles heats at the world championships on Thursday, Jenneke attracted much of the attention from the crowd and TV cameras before the race.

She beamed and waved to supporters before going into the bouncing warm-up show she first unveiled at the 2012 world juniors and which made her a YouTube sensation.

What 31-year-old Harper-Nelson thought of it all was anyone's guess.

"I am always happy," Jenneke said.

"When I am out there I am just doing what I love.

"I absolutely love hurdles and I love being out there in big events and in front of the crowd and I had a lot of family there so I was waving to them and other Aussie supporters in the crowd.

"It was pretty amazing being out there."

When the gun went off, the 22-year-old tried to stay with Harper-Nelson before eventually crossing the line in fourth spot in 13.02 seconds - good enough for a spot in the semi-finals on Friday.

"I set myself the goal to just go out with Dawn and try and stick on her for as long as I could and I felt like at the beginning I was right next to her," said Jenneke.

"Then she just took off and I just couldn't match it with her.

"But I think it was really good and I was excited to be right in next to Dawn and race someone of that calibre."

Jenneke's time was still the fourth fastest of her career and she figures she is ready to go quicker again in the semis.

With reigning Olympic gold medallist and 2011 world champion Sally Pearson back in Australia recovering from a broken wrist, American Brianna Rollins topped the qualifying charts with 12.67.

Rollins relegated Pearson to the silver-medal position two years ago in Moscow.


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Source: AAP


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