Kristine Eikrem Engeset may not be a household name yet but the young Norwegian runner is already turning heads on and off the track.

Young, attractive, and talented, the European junior runner-up in the women's 3000m steeplechase is a marketing man's dream and has already been snapped up by sportswear giants Puma.

The 19 year-old has been part of a major advertising campaign alongside double World Championship silver medallist Usain Bolt and has got to travel the world and mingle alongside the likes of former Olympic gold medal winner Linford Christie who she shared a catwalk with in London last week.

"It is really exciting (to be with these stars)," she told eurosport.yahoo.co.uk, "and it keeps me motivated that in a few years I could be at their level."

Engeset has a long-term plan; she competed at the World Championship in Osaka last season and is hoping to gain more experience at the Olympics before becoming a major player in future Games.

"To get to Beijing is my biggest goal for the season but I also want to compete at Golden League and Grand Prix level and to keep running fast.

"I'm not thinking about getting to the final or anything, my first goal is just to get to Beijing and then to see how it goes, and then in four or eight years time I hope to be on top winning medals."

Engeset was introduced to the steeplechase by her coach who trained former European bronze medallist Jim Svenoy, but she also competes on the flats at 1,500m and 3,000m.

However, the fact that she is involved in athletics at all came more through accident then design.

"When I was younger I was just doing everything, so I would play football and do ballet, a bit of everything really," she said.

"Then my coach said I should try athletics and I did pretty good, so obviously I saw had a talent for it; so I kept going with it and I love it, and I think I just have a passion for it."

So as a full-time athlete and a part-time jet-setting model, does Engest have any time to be just a normal teenager?

"I'd say that 50 % of my life is normal and the rest if taken up with my running.

"When I wake up I just go and train and I train twice a day, but then I do other things after that. I do have time to spend with friends during the week so it is no problem especially when you run long distance.

"You might do one hour and then come back and then do another hour later, you have a lot of time to do other things.

"And it is fun, because I get to travel around the world and see things I never would have seen if it were not for athletics."

Seán Fay / Eurosport