5 Athletes Who Went Viral for Reasons Other Than Sports

Sports stars have always made for great celebrities. But with some viral athletes in the era of the social media, fame doesn’t necessarily come from sporting success…

Michelle Jenneke

Michelle Jenneke is an Australian hurdler who competed in the 2016 Rio Olympic Games. As a teenager, she won a silver medal in the 100-meter hurdles during the 2010 Summer Youth Olympics.

But these achievements aren’t what made her famous…

Warming Up

During the 2012 World Junior Championships in Athletics in Barcelona, Jenneke was caught on camera doing an absolutely adorable warm-up dance that involved swaying her hips from side to side. Immediately, the internet fell in love with this enthusiastic hurdler.

Taking Instagram by Storm

At present, Jenneke is just shy of half a million followers on Instagram, where she regularly posts pictures from her athletic meets as well as model photos. As a natural result of her fame, she found that a lot of doors were open to her in the field of modeling.

The Internet’s Favorite Hurdler

Jenneke’s fame spread far and wide across the internet. She appeared in a comedy YouTube video for The Chive that earned over 10 million views, and was a star at the Top Gear Sydney Festival, where she took part in a race driving a Nissan GT-R.