Spikes01 Apr 2014


Amy Pejkovic: High-flying model

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Amy Pejkovic | part time model

She's a world youth high jump silver medallist and a part-time model. SPIKES asks Australia's Amy Pejkovic about her career away from athletics.

You combine athletics and modelling, was that always the plan?

“Modelling first entered my my mind when I was a 12-year-old playing pinball at a restaurant. I was out with my family when a modelling scout approached my mother and asked her if I’d be interested in giving her a call. It was kind of cool and something I’d never thought of up until that point."

OK, so that was your big break?

“No, my break in modelling came when I entered a competition along with my friend when I was aged about 14. We thought it would be fun to enter because we’d get some free goodie bags and get to meet some of the past winners of the modelling contest. I got to the state finals of the competition, and they announced the winner as 'Amy' but couldn’t pronounce my surname properly, so I just sat there.

"They ended up dragging up this random Amy as the winner of the competition. It was only a few days later I got a call from the agency saying that it was actually me that had won!"

Has being an athlete helped your modelling career?

“I have found my background in athletics has helped me get more modelling opportunities. I do a lot of sporty shoots and they are easier, because it's quite natural to me."

What's the best thing you've done as a model?

“My favourite ever modelling assignment came with Paspaley – Australia’s biggest pearling company. Five of us in different age brackets went along to the shoot. It was really classic and beautiful."

Which model do you most admire?

“My favourite model is Candice Swanepoel. She’s gorgeous and achieved so much. She also appears really grounded and down-to-earth, and hasn’t let success go to her head."

Which is your favourite: athletics or modelling?

“I enjoy both high jumping and modelling, and I would like to think I could continue to do both. They are both so different. Modelling is like being an actor, as we have to be in character for a day. The high jump allows me to be myself."

Pick four athletes who would make great models.

“If I had to pick four people from the world of track and field who would make great models I would say Anna Chicherova, the Olympic high jump champion, who is beautiful and quite an inspiration. I’d also pick the Swedish high jumper Emma Green Tregaro [a former world bronze medallist]. She’s so pretty and I love her reactions when she goes over the bar.

"Of the men, I think Usain Bolt and David Oliver could both make good models."

Main picture credit: Luke Dubbelde

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