Lolo Jones

Infobox runner
runnername = Lolo Jones


imagesize = 200px
caption = Lolo Jones at the 2008 Drake Relays
nationality =USA
distance(s) = 110 m hurdles
club =
collegeteam =
birthdate =Birth date and age|mf=yes|1982|8|5
birthplace =Des Moines, Iowa USA
residence =
deathdate =
deathplace =
height =convert|175|cm|ftin [http://www.runlolorun.com/]
weight =convert|59|kg|lb
medaltemplates =MedalCountry | USA

Lori Jones, more commonly known as Lolo Jones,cite web |url=http://www.boston.com/sports/other_sports/running/articles/2008/02/23/jones_has_made_a_name_for_herself/|title=Jones has made a name for herself|author=John Powers |accessdate=2008-08-18 |date=2008 |publisher=The Boston Globe ] cite web |url=http://www.nbcolympics.com/athletes/athlete=195/bio/index.html|title=Athletes > Lolo Jones > Bio |author=MSN|accessdate=2008-08-18 |date=2008 |publisher=NBC Beijing Olympics 2008] (born August 5, 1982) is an American track and field athlete. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at LSU. She won indoor national titles in 2007 and 2008 in the 60m hurdles, and won her first world championship in 2008 in the same event.

Early years and high school career

In her youth, Lori "Lolo" Jones had a series of obstacles to overcome.cite web | title = Life's hurdles made Lolo Jones strong | publisher = Des Moines Register | url =http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080812/NEWS/808120374/-1/LOLO_JONES&theme=LOLO | accessdate = 2008-08-20] Jones attended eight schools in eight years while her single mother, Lori, often held down two jobs to support her family of six. Lolo's father spent most of her childhood either in the Air Force or jail. In third grade, the Jones family settled in the basement of a Des Moines church. During the summer when day camps were offered at the church, Lolo 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, this time to Forest City, Iowa, Lolo told her mother "Mom, I can't go to a city that doesn't have a track. I'm trying to pursue my dream." Lolo and her family parted ways, and she lived with four different families during her enrollment at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines. [cite web | title = Lolo Jones Overcomes Hurdles To Contend For Olympic Gold | publisher = Associated Press | url =http://www.accesshollywood.com/article/10922/lolo-jones-overcomes-hurdles-to-contend-for-olympic-gold/ | accessdate = 2008-08-20] One of those families that took Jones in was Janis Caldwell, who had seen Jones compete at Roosevelt.cite web | title = U.S. hurdler Lolo Jones has cleared plenty of obstacles | publisher = Chicago Tribune | url =http://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/chi-13-lolo-jones-olympicsaug13,0,1495001.story | accessdate = 2008-08-20] While Jones stayed with the Caldwells after her senior year at Roosevelt, they gave her free rent even though Jones worked part-time at the Iowa Bagel Bakery, a small coffee shop near her high school. During her junior and senior years, she had lived with the family of former "Des Moines Register" assistant managing editor Randy Essex and also with the family of Des Moines attorney Kim Walker.

At Roosevelt, she excelled in the classroom, keeping her grades up and playing the cello in the school orchestra. She excelled on the track as well, as Jones was named Gatorade Midwest Athlete of the Year. She also holds the 100-meter hurdles record for the Iowa state track meet with a time of 13.40.

Collegiate career

Jones originally intended to enroll at Iowa State University in its Upward Bound/Science Bound program, however Jones had admired the goddaughter of Caldwell, elite hurdler Kim Carson who was an All-American and national champion at Louisiana State University. Carson had promoted Jones to LSU track coach Dennis Shaver. Jones eventually landed a spot on LSU's track team.

In 2002, she was runner-up in both 100-meter hurdles and 4x100-meter at the NCAA Outdoor Championships. In 2003, Jones won the 60-meter Hurdles at the NCAA Indoor Championships. In the outdoor season, she was part of the winning 4x100-meter team at the NCAA Championships. In her 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 NCAA Outdoor Championships, she won another national title as a member of the winning 4x100-meter team. Her terrific career at LSU saw her finish as an 11-time All-American and a 6-time SEC champion. She is also ranked among the top-three 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. After Jones had told Shaver she wanted to retire from track, Shaver replied, "I'll see you at practice tomorrow." Jones' financial situation also was a concern for her, forcing her to choose between focusing on track and not earning a steady paycheck, or use her economics degree to get a regular job. Despite second thoughts, her heart led her back to running. To save money, she would leave the air conditioner off, meaning suffering through the hot Louisiana summer days. She worked numerous jobs after college, working at Home Depot, a restaurant waiter, and a personal trainer at a gym. She chose part-time jobs to have the flexibility to leave the country to compete and still earn income.

Professional career

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 100m hurdles and fifth in the 100m. She also did well on the European circuit, winning the 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 60m 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 60m hurdles. In April, she won the 100 meter hurdles at the Drake Relays. At the 2007 USA Outdoor Track and Field Championships, Jones finished third in the 100m 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 60m hurdles. She then picked up a win in Dusseldorf, 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 60m hurdles with a time of 7.80 for her first world championship.

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, Lolo was favored 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 disappointing 7th-place finish. The mistake has been compared numerous times to Gail Devers' famous fall in the same event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.

Personal life

Lolo's birthname is Lori, which is actually the same name of her mother. According to Lolo, it was altered to differentiate her from her mother after telephone calls for simply "Lori" would confuse the two. According to her mother, Lolo was always called that since birth.

A 2005 graduate of Louisiana State University, she currently resides in Baton Rouge, Louisiana and is sponsored by Asics and Oakley. She is Multiracial of French, Native American, African American, and Norwegian descent. She is also actively involved in Christian Ministry.cite web |url=http://blog.nola.com/olympics/2008/08/hard_work_got_lolo_jones_into.html|title=Hard work got Lolo Jones into Olympics|author=Jeff Duncan|accessdate=2008-08-04 |date=2008 |publisher=The Times Picayune]

Her good friend is Canadian hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Graceful in defeat, Lolo Jones demonstrated exemplary sportmanship in congratulating Lopes-Schliep for winning the 100m hurdles final's bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In a CBC Sports XXIX Summer Olympics interview with broadcaster Ron MacLean on August 19, 2008, Lopes-Schliep commented on Jones: "We're good friends. I mean, she came up to me afterwards and said, 'I'm so happy for you guys' (Canada's first track medal since 1996)', like, 'You've been through so much', and she's like, 'right now everything should all come together for you', so she gave me a big hug, you know, I gave her a hug, and a very good sport."

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. [cite web |url=http://www.iptv.org/iowastories/story.cfm/341|title=Olympic Iowans (Feature)|author=Iowa Public Television|accessdate=2008-08-20 |date=2008 |publisher=Iowa Public Television]

In July 2008, while back in Des Moines for a send-off ceremony before the 2008 Summer Olympics, Jones donated her $4,000 prize she earned 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. [cite web |url=http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20080714/SPORTS05/307140010/-1/|title=Keeler: Iowa athletes, flood victim get big lifts at a go-get-'em salute|author=Sean Keeler|accessdate=2008-08-20|date=2008 |publisher=Des Moines Register] 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. [cite web |url=http://www.robmatherly.com/blog/2008/07/15/not-quite-the-same-thing/|title=Not quite the same thing|author=Rob Matherly|accessdate=2008-08-20 |date=2008 |publisher=The Last Link]

See also

*Athletics
*2008 Summer Olympics

References

External links

* [http://www.runlolorun.com Lolo Jones' personal website]
* [http://oakley.com/visionaries/lolo_jones Lolo Jones' Oakley page]
* [http://www.asicsamerica.com/sports/trackfield/athletes_track.aspx#ljones Lolo Jones' Asics page]
* [http://www.smoothlolosmooth.com Lolo Jones' Iowa flood relief website]
* [http://usuarios.lycos.es/neikye/lolo_jones.htm Lolo Jones Photos]
*iaaf name|id=181187|name=Lolo Jones