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Fans attack Aussie Olympian Michelle Jenneke after her 'disappointing' sixth place finish.

She’s the hurdler known around the world for her famous warm-up routine: a mixture of dancing and stretching that sees her place her hands on her hips and wiggle from side to side.

But the 23-year-old has failed to make it through to the next round of the 100m hurdles event, after finishing in sixth place in her heat.

Jenneke - who was named as one of the faces of Coca-Cola's Rio campaign, alongside sprinter Usain Bolt - described her performance as "one of the worst races I've ever done".

"I should have run faster and I didn’t," she told the press pack after her disappointing finish. Despite only being 23, and admitting that she's "still young, still at university", Australians have been quick to cast judgment on the hurdler's performance, criticising her for the fact her fame comes from her 'dancing' and not her on-track performance.

"You can afford to be a bit flamboyant when you're at the top of your sport. Ms Jenneke isn't," wrote one Aussie sports fan on Facebook.

"She can dance but not run. Another Australian who is all talk but hopeless," wrote another.

Others labelled her a "show off", a "flop" and said she was too busy "hamming it up for the cameras" rather than focusing on her race.

Jenneke isn't the first Aussie Olympian who has felt the need to apologise for their less-than-expected Rio results.

After failing to medal in both her preferred 100m and 50m reestyle events, Cate Campbell described her performance as "the biggest choke in Olympic history", and begged Australia to still "love her back".

Former gold medalist and Australian flag bearer Anna Meares also apologised after failing to medal in the women's sprint final.

"I've given it my everything and hope people can forgive me. I didn't deliver this time," a teary Meares said.

"Unfortunately sport delivers highs and lows and the Olympic games is the Olympic games. I always go out to win, so does every other bastard in the world too."

Australian women to look out for at the Rio Olympics.

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Top Comments

Peppa 8 years ago

I couldn't take to the track and beat Michelle so I don't have a right to criticise.


Kimbo 8 years ago

So being good enough to get to the Olympics isn't enough for some people - sorry all the assholes out there, even Olympians are HUMAN!
Michelle absolutely ROCKS - keep it up, you are awesome :)