Michelle Jenneke competes at the Commonwealth Games.Getty ImagesMichelle Jenneke has missed out on a bronze medal by just 0.09 seconds as she finished fifth in the final of the 100m hurdles at the Commonwealth Games.
Jenneke was just 0.02 seconds off her personal best with a negative wind blowing in her face and it still wasn’t enough for a medal as she fell away in the final 40m.
Defending champion, world champion and world record holder Tobi Amusan won the gold in a Games record time of 12.30 seconds.
Jenneke’s time — 12.68 seconds — was just 0.03 seconds off the previous Games record, but in a lightning race all three of the best runners smashed that previous record.
It was another brutal end for Jenneke after she also missed out on a bronze medal at the 2018 Gold Coast Games by just 0.1 seconds.
The difference this time is that the field was red hot, with five of the runners also featuring in the World Championships final last month in Oregon.
Michelle Jenneke reacts after a heat of the women’s 100m hurdles round 1 athletics event on day eight of the Commonwealth Games.AFP via Getty Images“It wasn’t to be today,” Jenneke told Channel 7 after the race. “To back up my run from worlds, go fast with a slight headwind there… so really happy with that performance. It’s just tough when you’re racing a field of that quality. That’s the fastest race there has ever been at the Commonwealth Games.
The 29-year-old has been given the moniker “Jiggling” Jenneke for her pre-race dancing routine.
“Honestly, I feel like I run the best when I’m happy and relaxed and just soaking it all up,” she said. “That’s what works for me, so that’s what I do.”
She went on to say how happy she is that she has resurrected her career after so many injury set backs in recent years in an emotional moment reflecting on her comeback.
“I had a pretty rough two years. There were times people in my inner circle were saying to me, ‘Are you sure you want to be doing this?’ And I was just saying back to them, ‘I’ve got more in me’. It shows that I have and I’m really glad I could show the world what I’m capable of,” she said.
Jenneke had run the fastest time of her life — 12.63 seconds — two days earlier to thunder into the final, but the time did not count as a new personal best because it was wind-assisted.
Jenneke also ran a career-saving personal best time of 12.66 at the World Championships, making her the second-quickest women’s 100m hurdler Australia has ever produced, behind only Sally Pearson.
She said after the semifinal that she was in “the shape of my life”.
She said her peak physical condition is simply the result of finally being able to have a stretch without injuries where she could get in an extended training block.
“I haven’t really changed things. It’s just one of those things where I’ve been able to string together some training where I haven’t been injured,” she said.
Michelle Jenneke competes at the World Championships on July 24, 2022.Getty Images for World Athletics“So I’ve actually been able to get every session done. When you do that things seem to come together. That’s really all it is. Nothing too special.”
Jenneke had finished fourth at the 2018 Games on the Gold Coast, but she did it in a time of 13.07 seconds.
