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Australian Hurdler's Adorable Warmup Dance Gets Her a Creepy Offer (VIDEOS)

by Jill Baughman on July 25, 2012 at 1:20 PM

Who would have thought a couple seconds of dancing would make you the next Internet sensation? That's what happened with Australian runner Michelle Jenneke, who did a "sexy dance" before competing in the hurdles at the IAAF World Junior Championships in Barcelona.

I'm not gonna lie. The girl is fine. Many of us would kill for those abs. And it's great seeing an athlete warm up in such a fun, casual manner. It was an original way to stand out, that's for sure!

Of course, this brings up the inevitable debate of whether we're sexualizing female athletes or if this is empowering them, blah blah ... eh, who cares! This girl's happiness is contagious, and it's great to see someone who loves what they're doing. And not only that, she won the race!

Here's the video:

Cute, huh? Well, of course you can count on the Internet to take things to a creepy level. This video of her dancing in slow motion with a really weird guy in the background making gross faces already has over a million hits. On top of that, the 19-year-old got an offer from Sex.com to pose nude. I guess you're not a true Internet celebrity until something like this happens, right?

Sigh. Nice editing job, but otherwise ... kinda pervy. Now that is definitely sexualizing, wouldn't you say?

You gotta wonder if Michelle is shocked by all this attention. Honestly, I don't know what to make of all of this! Is it a sad commentary on female athletes nowadays or do people just like seeing a hot woman enjoying herself and having fun? We'll see if this is just the start of "sexy dances" in warmups now. Too bad she's not competing in London this summer!

Are you surprised that this video has gotten so popular? What do you think of the creepy version?

Image via Adam CM/YouTube

Filed Under: athletes, cute, news, racing, video, women in sports

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-- Nonmember comment from
Anon

July 25, 2012 at 1:43 PM

Well, she's obviously an attention seeker. And she got it.
--
CPN322

July 25, 2012 at 2:08 PM

I think that was cute and yeah, the remake or whatever makes that dude look super creepy. Why does doin a lil dance to sike yourself up for a race have to be attention seeking?? Jealous much.
--
pollopicu

July 25, 2012 at 2:38 PM

I think she's the biggest most apthetic attention whore in history. Her mother who raised her should be ashamed.
--
kebrowni

July 25, 2012 at 3:25 PM

I think it's funny. She may like the attention, but she won. I would guess the dance is a way for her to calm her nerves. And at first I thought it was Daniel Tosh in the edited video. He would totally do something like that. I'm also with CPN322-- jealous much?
-- Facebook comment from
Nicky Jenneke

July 25, 2012 at 6:30 PM

Actually pollopicu her mother is very proud of her, she is a wonderful young lady who just enjoys life, she has been limbering up before races like this for years and has never drawn attention before, it's just what she does. Pretty sure she didn't slow down the music or put a sexy little song to it and she hasn't been out and about since the race flaunting this so called 'fame'. There is nothing about Michelle to be ashamed about and as she is just weeks away from embarking on three months in Africa as a volunteer I think the world needs more happy, giving and generous people like her :)
-- Nonmember comment from
Alex

July 25, 2012 at 7:19 PM

Every athlete has his or her own way of getting themselves pumped or relaxed or both for their event, and that was her way. For attention or not, she proved that she has skills by almost blowing away the competition. And I always like when an athlete congratulates the other competitors as well, that's respectful.
--
countrygirl670

July 25, 2012 at 7:24 PM

I think the creepy, open-mouthed guy makes the video funny; I think he's making fun of men, not objectifying the young lady.
-- Nonmember comment from
pipip

July 25, 2012 at 10:42 PM

She's not an attention seeker. She's been doing this routine warm up for the last 3 yrs. Why should she pose nude when endorsements have been flooding in for her and she's currently studying mechatronic engineering at Sydney University, a combination of mechanical and electrical engineering. Thanks but No Thanks
--
Susie19

July 25, 2012 at 11:22 PM

She's cute and obviously her little dance worked cause she won the race! :)
-- Nonmember comment from
Kate

July 26, 2012 at 1:47 AM

I think people accusing MJ of attention seeking are people who can't stand it when positive attention is on anyone but themselves. Those comments are nasty and undeserved. I agree with countrygirl670 and think the creeper video is funnier because it's ripping on the pervs rather than MJ - though I don't know whether that was the intention of the boys who put the creeper clip together. I think she's an absolute joy to watch and have, myself (my solidly hetero female self, not that there is anything wrong with being otherwise) enjoyed watching the clip more than once. The attraction isn't any 'sexiness' of MJ - it's her absolute -JOY- in the moment, and I say good on her. She makes me feel happier just by watching her. I think that if a male had exhibited this much open enjoyment in pre-prep for his race while there may have been some perving among a small portion of people the majority of viewers would simply have enjoyed his exuberance for what it is - so the fact that MJ's incident has been interpreted so predominately sexually, even to the point where people exhibit jealousy and accuse her of 'attention-seeking' is a sad reflection on the state of gender politics/perceptions, and how far we still have to go before men and women are perceived and judged at the same level.

Australian Hurdler's Adorable Warmup Dance Gets Her a Creepy Offer (VIDEOS)

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