| High achiever making a mark |
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By SCOTT GULLAN The Daily Telegraph March13, 2006 MOVE over Tamsyn and Tatiana, there is a new glamour girl in Australian track and field. High-jumper Claire Mallett will make her Australian team debut at the Commonwealth Games and has already been raising eyebrows in the modelling stakes, which until now have been the domain of pole vaulter Tatiana Grigorieva and 400m runner Tamsyn Lewis. The graphic designer from Cronulla, 21, is more than happy to do her bit to help promote the sport. "I'm definitely trying to get more into it (modelling) to try to get more exposure for us,'' Mallett said. After following her three sisters into Little Athletics at the age of five, Mallett has combined athletics with her love of the beach, where she is an elite surf life-saver. After the Commonwealth Games, Mallett will fly to Queensland for the Australian Surf Life Saving Championships. She is hoping her new improved focus on training will pay off. "I'm thrilled. I always seem to do my best in big competitions. So I'm hoping the Games will really get me going.'' Mallett finished third with a leap of 1.85m in her final hit-out for the Games at last Thursday night's World Series Meeting at Olympic Park. "It was good to see that I was going pretty well,'' she said. "I was jumping close to what everyone else was jumping as well. There were no real stand-outs so it means I'm in the mix.'' Mallett returns to Melbourne on Wednesday for the opening ceremony and will then have to kill time for a week before competing in the final on Thursday night next week. "I'll find something to do,'' she said. "I'm sure I'll be able to do some shopping |