|
|
|
 ,
Font size |
Lolo Jones: Success Story Built on Foundation of Failures
 Lori
"Lolo" Jones is an American track and field and bobsled athlete who specializes
in the 60 and 100 meter hurdles. In 2007 she stood 1st at 60 m hurdles
World Indoor Championships held at Valencia, Spain. In 2010 she stood 1st at 60
m hurdles World Indoor Championships held at Doha, Qatar.
In October 2012, Jones was named to the U.S. national bobsled team. Jones was
one of three track and field Olympians (along with Tianna Madison and Hyleas
Fountain) invited to the U.S. women's bobsled push championship by coach Todd
Hays. Jones and Madison made the bobsled team, giving them a chance to
earn a spot on the bobsled World Cup circuit. On November 9, 2012, Jones and
teammate Jazmine Fenlator placed second in Jones' first career World Cup
bobsledding competition. Jones won gold in the team event with the US at the
FIBT World Championships in St. Moritz on January 27, 2013.
In May 2013, Jones earned her first win of the 2013 season at the Seiko Golden
Grand Prix in Tokyo. She clocked 12.92 seconds in the race � well behind her
Drake time of 12.79 and Queen Harrison�s 2013 world leading time of 12.71 due to
the headwind � to hold off Wells, who was still fast enough to finish with
silver in 13.07 seconds.
Jones opened the 2008 outdoor season with a first place finish at the LSU Alumni
Gold meet in Baton Rouge, setting a stadium record in the process.At the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jones was favoured to win the 100 meter hurdles.
In the final, she was pulling away from the pack when she clipped the 9th hurdle
(of 10) and stumbled, breaking stride to drop her back to a 7th-place finish.
Teammate Dawn Harper surged through to win gold. Jones was seen pounding the
ground close to tears, trying to comprehend what had happened. "You hit a hurdle
about twice a year where it affects your race. It's just a shame that it
happened on the biggest race of my life." Jones was later seen crying to herself
in a hallway, mouthing, �why, why, why?"
Jones is the American record holder in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.72.
Jones was born on August 5, 1982 in Des Moines, Iowa. She attended eight schools
in eight years while her single mother, Lori, often held down two jobs to
support her family of six. Jones' father spent most of her childhood in the Air
Force and later in state prison. When Jones was in third grade, her family
settled
in the basement of a Des Moines Salvation Army church. During the summer when
day camps were offered at the church, Jones would wake up early to avoid
being teased by other kids if they found out she was living in the basement.
When her family was about to make another move, to Forest City, Iowa, Jones told
her mother, "Mom, I can't go to a city that doesn't have a track. I'm trying
to pursue my dream." Jones and her family parted ways, and her mentor, Coach
Ferguson, arranged for her to live with four different families during her
enrolment at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. One of those who took
Jones in was Janis Caldwell, who had seen Jones compete at Roosevelt.
ones stayed with the Caldwells after her senior year at Roosevelt, while she
attended college, trained and worked part-time at the Iowa Bakery Cafe, a local
coffee shop.
During her junior and senior years, she lived with the family of medical writing
consultant Marilyn K. Hauk and her then-husband, former Des Moines Register
assistant managing editor Randy Essex. Hauk and Essex already knew Jones through
the Des Moines Area Youth Track Club. Knowing that she showed such
tremendous promise, they asked Des Moines youth coach Phil Ferguson if they
could help. They became part of a community that nurtured her, which included
teachers at Roosevelt High School who made sure that she put together the right
classes to be ready for college, an orthodontist who reduced the cost of her
braces and an attorney who handled paperwork pro bono to assure she was covered
by health insurance. Jean and Kim Walker and later Janice Caldwell also
welcomed her into their homes. Jones went on to receive college degrees in
economics and Spanish.
At Roosevelt, she excelled in the classroom, keeping her grades up and playing
the cello in the school orchestra. She was named Gatorade Midwest Athlete of
the Year and set a record at the Iowa state track meet with a mark of 13.40
seconds for the 100-meter hurdles.
Jones originally intended to enrol at Iowa State University through its Upward
Bound/Science Bound program. Instead, she followed the lead of elite hurdler
Kim Carson, who was her role model and Caldwell's goddaughter. Carson was an
All-American and national champion at Louisiana State University. Like Carson,
Jones competed on LSU's track team.
 In 2002, she was runner-up in both 100-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter relay at
the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In 2003, Jones won the 60-meter Hurdles at
the NCAA Indoor Championships. She was later part of the winning 4x100-meter
team at the 2003 NCAA Outdoor Championships. In the 2004 indoor campaign,
she finished second at the NCAA Championships in both the 60-meter hurdles and
60-meter dash. In her 2004 outdoor season, she won the 100-meter hurdles
title at the NCAA Mideast Region Championships, the SEC Championships, and the
Penn Relays. At the 2004 NCAA Outdoor Championships, she won another
national title as a member of the winning 4x100-meter team. Her career at LSU
saw her finish as an 11-time All-American and a 6-time SEC champion, and she
is ranked among the top-three women for all-time in both the 60-meter hurdles
and 100-meter hurdles.
After failing to qualify for the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece, Jones
found herself contemplating her future. When Jones told Shaver she wanted to
retire from track, he replied, "I'll see you at practice tomorrow." Despite any
second thoughts, Jones' heart led her back to running. Jones' financial
situation
also was still a concern, forcing her to choose between focusing on track and
not earning a steady pay check, or using her economics degree to get a regular
job.
To save money, Jones would leave the air conditioner off, which meant suffering
through the hot Louisiana summer days. She also held several different part-time jobs after college, including working at Home Depot, waiting tables, and a
personal trainer at a gym.
After a disappointing finish at the 2004 U.S. Olympic Outdoor Trials, Jones
finished second in her first professional meet at Stuttgart. She had a stellar
2006
campaign, which saw her win at Heusden-Zolder in July, running a personal best
time of 12.56. At the 2006 World Athletics Final, she finished sixth in the 100
m hurdles and fifth in the 100 m. She also did well on the European circuit,
winning a meet in Ostrava. She finished the 2006 season ranked fourth in the
U.S.
and seventh in the world by Track & Field News.
Jones won her first national championship in 2007, winning the 60 m hurdles at
the USA Indoor Championships with a time of 7.88 seconds. In the European
winter circuit, Jones won two meets and finished second in two others in the 60
m hurdles. In April, she won the 100 m hurdles at the Drake Relays. At the
2007 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Jones finished third in the 100
m hurdles, thereby earning a spot on the U.S. Team at the World
Championships in Osaka, Japan, where she finished 6th. On the summer track
circuit, Jones won meets at Rethimno and Heusden along with second-place
finishes at Doha, Sheffield, and Monaco.
Jones started the 2008 season with hopes of making the 2008 Summer Olympics. She
began the indoor campaign with second place finishes in Glasgow,
Gothenburg, and Stuttgart in the 60 m hurdles. She then picked up a win in
D�sseldorf, setting a meet-record in the process. In Karlsruhe, Jones ran a
personal
best time of 7.77 seconds and finished second to Susanna Kallur, who broke the
world record with a time of 7.68 seconds. Jones' time was the second-fastest
ever by an American. She was named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week on
February 12 for her performance in Karlsruhe. At the 2008 USA Indoor
Championships, Jones won her second straight national championship with a time
of 7.88 seconds and also won the Visa Championship Series title for the 2008
indoor season. At the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Jones won
the 60 m hurdles with a time of 7.80 for her first world championship.
According to SEC-sponsored, ESPN Films' documentary, "Lolo" about Jones' life
(and her personal telling of the story during it), the "clipping" of the ninth
hurdle
at the 2008 Beijing Olympics was attributed to a spinal problem. The doctor who
treated her said that the problem was so bad that he would examine her feet
and ask which toe of which foot he was touching and she told him that she
couldn't feel anything. The doctor said that the problem was that, since she
couldn't
feel her feet, her brain wasn't able to process where they were, leading to the
"clipping" in the medal race in Beijing. Also according to the documentary, the
doctor operated on Jones to repair the problem and the operation was a success.
Jones began the 2009 indoor season in Europe, scoring victories in the 60 m
hurdles with world-leading times of 7.82 seconds in Karlsruhe and Birmingham.
She
returned to the States and won the national indoor title in the 60 m hurdles. A
hamstring injury at her hometown meet, the Drake Relays, caused her to miss a
months� worth of training but she returned in time for the outdoor national
championships. She did not repeat her indoor success, however, as her arms
collided
with Michelle Perry in the semi-finals and fell, missing out on the opportunity
to compete at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin. Vowing to salvage her
season, she returned to Europe to compete on the major World Athletics Tour
meets, but she only finished seventh and eighth in Oslo and Lausanne. She
returned to form in Rethymno, beating Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Damu Cherry
with a world-leading time of 12.47 seconds.
She faced strong competition on the European circuit: Jones took third at the
London Grand Prix behind Sally McLellan and Perdita Felicien, and a run of 12.61
seconds was only enough for third again at Herculis. She ran her second fastest
time of the season (12.51) at the DN Galan meeting, but she was beaten to the
line by Lopes-Schliep. She re-injured her hamstring at Weltklasse Z�rich, ruling
her out for the rest of the season. Having missed the major championships and
suffered injuries, the 2009 season was largely disappointing for Jones, although
she took solace from having run the second fastest time that season.
 Jones defended her 60m hurdles Indoor World Title in Doha after finishing with a
time of 7.72, a new American record. Due to there being no major
championships for Americans, Jones then traveled to Europe and competed in
mainly Diamond League events. After wins in Doha, Oslo, New York, Gateshead,
and Monaco, going into the last Diamond League race, Jones was tied at the top
of the standings with Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Lopes-Schliep won the
final race which left Jones second in the overall standings.
Jones made her 2011 race debut at Aviva International Match, Kelvin Hall in
Glasgow. Jones finished the race in fourth with a time of 8.27 after hitting the
third
hurdle. A close third place finish followed in Stuggart, with Jones finishing in
7.94 behind Carolin Nytra (7.92) and Christina Vukicevic (7.93). Injury and
illness
forced Jones to miss the rest of the indoor season.
On June 23, 2012, Jones placed third in the 100m hurdles at the U.S. Olympics
trials, qualifying her for a spot on the 2012 Summer Olympics team. At the
London Olympics on August 6, Jones won her heat in the 100 meter hurdles with a
time of 12.68s. On August 7, she placed third in the semi-finals of the 100
meter hurdles, gaining progression to the finals. In the finals later that day
Jones finished fourth with a time of 12.58s.
While visiting Des Moines for the Drake Relays, she made a surprise visit to her
alma mater, Roosevelt High School, to deliver a pair of new Asics running shoes
for each member of the school's track team. She also delivered a $3,000 check to
buy indoor practice hurdles and for improvements to repair the school's track
surface.
In July 2008, while back in Des Moines for a send-off ceremony before the 2008
Summer Olympics, Jones donated the $4,000 prize from winning the 100-meter
hurdles at the Olympic trials to Renee Trout, a single mother from Cedar Rapids,
Iowa who was hit by the Iowa flood of 2008. Asics and Oakley each matched
Jones' $4,000 prize, bringing the total donation to $12,000. After the send-off
ceremony, Jones flew with Trout to Cedar Rapids aboard a private jet provided by
the Iowa Farm Bureau to tour the neighbourhood�s affected by the flood,
including Trout's.
In October 2009, Jones posed semi-nude for ESPN the Magazine. In 2012 she
appeared on the cover of Outside magazine wearing a bathing suit made of
strategically placed ribbon. Jones appeared as a guest on the June 25, 2012
episode of The Tonight Show with Jay Leno. On August 19, 2013, Jones was
announced as a cast member in the 2014 remake of the Left Behind movie series.
She will portray an airport gate attendant.
On August 4, 2012, Jones was heavily criticized by Jer� Longman of The New York
Times. Longman stated that "This media attention paid to her was based not
on achievement but on her exotic beauty and on a sad and cynical marketing
campaign". Janice Forsyth, director of the International Centre for Olympic
Studies
at the University of Western Ontario, compared her to tennis' Anna Kournikova,
who had never won a WTA Tour singles tournament but became well-known
after appearing in numerous photo shoots and product advertisements.
Jones rejected these criticisms, saying that her critics should be supporting
the U.S. Olympic athletes, whereas instead they just "ripped me to shreds".
Jones
also stated The New York Times did not do its research properly, as unlike
Kournikova, she had won several major races, including two world indoor titles
and
holding the indoor American record.
Lolo Jones Career Highlights:
-
2012:USA U.S. Indoor Champion
-
2010: World Indoor Champion and American Indoor Record Holder (7.72)
-
2009: USA U.S. Indoor Champion
-
2008: USA Outdoor Champion, USA Indoor Champion, World Indoor Champion...2008
Beijing Olympic Games (12.43)
-
2007: USA Indoor champion (7.88). 2nd at Doha Super Grand Prix (12.78)
-
World Championships 6th place (12.62)
-
2006: 5th at USA Outdoors (12.76)� 1st at Heusden (12.56)...6th at World
Athletics Final (12.76)�8th at Meeting Gaz de France Paris Saint-Denis
(12.87)�4th
at Golden Gala (12.70)�4th in 100m (11.36) and 3rd in 100mh at Athens Super
Grand Prix (12.83)�5th at Athletissima (12.68)�3rd at DN Galan (12.74)...1st at
Ostrava (12.72)�ranked #7 in the world (#4 U.S.) by T&FN�best of 12.56.
-
2005: 4th at USA Outdoors (12.90)5th in semi-finals at USA Outdoors (12.76PR)1st
at Torino Memorial (12.83)4th at Zagreb (12.87)4th at adidas Track Classic
(12.86)3rd at Norwich Union (8.00i)5th at Athens (8.06i)ranked #5 in the U.S. by
T&FN best of 12.76.
-
2004 NCAA Indoor 60m Hurdles and 60m runner-up
-
2004 NCCA Outdoor 4x100m Champion
-
2003 NCAA Indoor 60m Hurdles champion
-
2003 NCAA Outdoor 4x100m champion
-
2002 NCAA Outdoor 100m Hurdles and 4x100m runner-up
-
11-time All-American
100m Hurdles High School State of Iowa Record: 13.40sec
Women Fitness wishes this extraordinary athlete all the best in life.
Her official website: http://www.runlolorun.com
Video
Dated 10 September 2013
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
