Lolo Jones

Lori Susan "Lolo" Jones (born August 5, 1982) is an American hurdler and bobsledder who specializes in the 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at Louisiana State University. She won indoor national titles in 2007, 2008, and 2009 in the 60-meter hurdles, with gold medals at the World Indoor Championship in 2008 and 2010, and won outdoor national titles in 2008 and 2010 in the 100-meter hurdles.

She was favored to win the 100-meter hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but tripped on the penultimate hurdle, finishing in seventh place. She went on to win gold at the 2008 World Athletics Final, beating the newly crowned Olympic champion Dawn Harper with a time of 12.56. Jones was the American record holder in the 60-meter hurdles with a time of 7.72 until 2018 when both Kendra Harrison and Sharika Nelvis improved the time to 7.70.

Jones also competes as a brakewoman on the U.S. national bobsled team. She won a gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2013 World Championships and in the two-woman bobsled at the 2021 World Championships. She represented the U.S. at the 2014 Winter Olympics, making her one of the few athletes who has competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic Games.

Outside of the Olympics, Jones has also appeared on many reality TV shows, such as Dancing with the Stars, Celebrity Big Brother, The Challenge, and Name That Tune.

Early life 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." She was, however, mistaken, as Forest City High School did, in fact, have a track. Jones and her family parted ways, and her mentor, Coach Ferguson, arranged for her to live with four different families during her enrollment 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. Jones 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 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 Janis 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. Jones was later seen crying to herself in a hallway, mouthing, "why, why, why?" Jones reports she played basketball with Angela Whyte that night while talking about their losses.

According to the 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. 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 month's 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 Zürich, 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.

2010 and 2011 seasons

Jones defended her 60 m 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 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.

2012 Summer Olympics On June 23, 2012, Jones placed third in the 100 m 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 12.68 s. 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 12.58 s.

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.

2015 At the 2015 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Jones advanced to the finals. She qualified for the NACAC Championships in Costa Rica. Jones won the NACAC Championships women's 100 m hurdles in 12.63 {4.1 wind}.

2020 Return to Competition On March 7, 2020, Jones ran her first outdoor race in three years at the 2020 Mississippi College Season Opener in Clinton, Mississippi, participating in the 100 Meters Hurdles & 100 Meters events. Jones won the 100 Meters Hurdles final with 13.45 (−0.1 wind) and the 100 Meters Dash final with 11.93 (1.3 wind).

2023 Masters World Record As a 40 year old on January 21, Jones ran 8.38 for the 60 m hurdles in the preliminary round at the Iowa Hawkeyes Invitational. Her time took over a third of a second off of Monica Pelligrinelli's 2006 W40 world record. The race also qualified her for the finals where she improved upon her own record by another .03 to 8.35.

2024 US Olympic Trials With an entry time of 13.10, Jones earned a spot in the 100 m hurdles at the 2024 US Olympic Trials, 12 years after her last trials appearance in the event.

Bobsledding Jones was introduced to bobsledding by Elana Meyers. After a disappointing 2008 Olympics campaign where she failed to medal, she took up the sport and gained weight. 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.

2014 Winter Olympics On January 27, 2013, Jones won gold in the team event with the U.S. at the FIBT World Championships in St. Moritz. She was selected for the U.S. bobsled team to compete at the 2014 Sochi Olympics on January 19, 2014, as the brakewoman for the USA Team-3 sled. but the USBSF stood by their decision. On February 19, 2014, the team placed tenth, 3.36 seconds behind the gold medal-winning Canadian team.

2021 World Championship Lolo Jones and Kaillie Humphries won the two-woman bobsleigh world championship in February 2021.

Personal life Jones was named Lori at birth, after her mother, but said she started going by "Lolo" in order to differentiate the two on the telephone. Her mother claims that "Lolo" is what she called her daughter from birth. She is a devout Christian, and often prays before competitions and talks about her faith on Twitter. She said: If there's virgins out there, I'm going to let them know, it's the hardest thing I've ever done in my life—harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage. Jones has openly shared her experience with egg freezing.

Charitable contributions to Iowa 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 sendoff ceremony, Jones flew with Trout to Cedar Rapids aboard a private jet provided by the Iowa Farm Bureau to tour the neighborhoods affected by the flood, including Trout's.

Mental health Jones states she struggles with passive suicidal thoughts and was diagnosed with PTSD following the 2008 Olympics.

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 portrayed an airport gate attendant.

On September 4, 2014, Jones was announced as one of the celebrities competing on the 19th season of Dancing with the Stars. She paired with professional dancer Keoikantse Motsepe. On September 16, Jones was the first celebrity eliminated.

Jones appeared as a special guest on Whose Line Is It Anyway? on July 13, 2016.

In 2017, Jones joined the cast of MTV's special mini-series The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros. She was eliminated in episode 6, raising $1,000 for her charity Hurdles of Hope.

Jones is the most followed U.S. track and field athlete on Twitter. Her tweets have frequently been the subject of controversy and media coverage. She has stated she greatly dislikes the attention, but tries to consider the potential benefits of social media views. In the same year, she hosted the two-part reunion show for The Challenge: War of the Worlds alongside WWE pro wrestler Mike "The Miz" Mizanin.

In 2020, Jones joined the cast of the 36th season of The Challenge. She left the show on her own accord in episode 11, citing frustrations with her performance in the competition and to prepare for the Olympic Games. Jones disputed the portrayal of her departure on her social media, claiming production "forced" her to leave.

Criticism On August 4, 2012, Jones was criticized by Jeré Longman of The New York Times: "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,

The selection of Jones to the U.S. 2014 Winter Olympics bobsled team was criticized by some American bobsledders as happening due to her fame. Curt Tomasevicz said, "It's hard for me to name one or two athletes that would completely agree with that decision."

Achievements Personal bests All information from IAAF Profile

Competition record

Competition record in Winter Sports

Filmography Films Year Title Role2012 Red Bull Kluge Herself 2014 Left Behind Lori 2015 Navy Seals vs. Zombies Margaret

Television Year Title Role Notes 2012 The Tonight Show with Jay Leno Guest June 25 2014 Dancing with the Stars 19 Contestant Eliminated; 1 episode 2016 Whose Line is it Anyway? Guest July 13 2017 The Challenge: Champs vs. Pros Contestant Eliminated; 6 episodes 2019 Celebrity Big Brother 2 Contestant 3rd place The Challenge: War of the Worlds Host Reunion show host 2020–21 The Challenge: Double Agents Contestant Withdrew; 11 episodes 2023 Celebrity Name That Tune Contestant September 19 (S3 Ep6)