Lolo Jones at the 2008 Drake Relays |
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| Personal information | ||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Nationality | United States | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Born | August 5, 1982 Des Moines, Iowa USA[1] |
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| Residence | Baton Rouge Louisiana | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Height | 175 centimetres (5 ft 9 in)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Weight | 65 kilograms (140 lb)[2] | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Sport | Running | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Event(s) | 100 m hurdles | |||||||||||||||||||||
| Achievements and titles | ||||||||||||||||||||||
| Personal best(s) |
100m: 11.24 s (Stuttgart 2006) |
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Medal record
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Lori "Lolo" Jones, more commonly known as Lolo Jones,[1][3] (born August 5, 1982) is an American track and field athlete who specializes in the 60 and 100 meter hurdles. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at LSU. She won indoor national titles in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the 60 m hurdles, with gold medals at the World Indoor Championship in 2008 and 2010.
She was favored to win the 100 m hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, but she tripped on the penultimate hurdle, finishing in seventh place. She went on to win silver at the 2008 World Athletics Final. Jones is the American record holder in the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.72.[4]
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Lolo Jones was born on August 5, 1982. In her youth, Lori "Lolo" Jones had a series of obstacles to overcome.[5] 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."[5] Lolo and her family parted ways, and she lived with four different families during her enrollment at Theodore Roosevelt High School in Des Moines.[6] One of those families that took Jones in was Janis Caldwell, who had seen Jones compete at Roosevelt.[7] 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 Bakery Cafe, a small coffee shop near her high school on 40th and University. During her junior and senior years, she lived with the family of Randy Essex, former Des Moines Register assistant managing editor, and 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.[7] Lolo, of course, also excelled on the track. 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 enroll 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 terrific 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."[7] 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 paycheck, or using her economics degree to get a regular job. To save money, Lolo 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, such as working at Home Depot, waiting tables, and a personal trainer at a gym. The part-time jobs helped her earn extra money and provided the flexibility to leave the country for competitions.[5]
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 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 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 meter 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 Düsseldorf, 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.
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. Teammate Dawn Harper surged through to win gold. Lolo 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."[8] Jones was later seen crying to herself in a hallway, mouthing,"why, why, why?" The mistake has been compared numerous times to Gail Devers' famous fall in the same event at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics.
She 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, England.[9] 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.[10] She did not repeat her indoor success, however, as she clashed arms with Michelle Perry in the semi-finals and fell, missing out on the opportunity to compete at the 2009 World Championships in Berlin.[11] Vowing to salvage her season, she returned to Europe to compete on the major World Athletics Tour meets, but she only managed seventh and eighth in Oslo and Lausanne.[12] She returned to form in Rethymno, Greece, beating Priscilla Lopes-Schliep and Damu Cherry with a world-leading time of 12.47 seconds.[13]
She faced strong competition on the European circuit: Jones took third at the London Grand Prix behind Sally McLellan and Perdita Felicien,[14] and a run of 12.61 seconds was only enough for third again at Herculis.[15] She ran her second fastest time of the season (12.51) at the DN Galan meeting, but she was just beaten to the line by Lopes-Schliep.[16] Her hamstring injury recurred 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 some solace from having run the second fastest time that season.[17]
Lolo 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, Lolo then traveled to Europe and competed in many countries, mainly Diamond League events. After wins in Doha, Oslo, New York, Gateshead, and Monaco, going into the last Diamond League race, Lolo was tied at the top of the standings along side Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Lopes-Schliep won the final race which left Lolo second in the overall Diamond league standings.
Lolo made her 2011 race debut at Aviva International Match, Kelvin Hall in Glasgow. Jones finished the race in fourth position with a time of 8.27 after hitting the third hurdle. A close third place finish then followed in Stuggart, with Jones finishing in 7.94 behind winner Carolin Nytra (7.92) and Christina Vukicevic (7.93). Injury and illness forced Jones to miss the rest of the indoor season.
Lolo was named Lori at birth, after her mother, but started going by "Lolo, she says, in order to differentiate the two when telephone callers asking for "Lori" made the matter confusing. Though according to Lolo's mother, "Lolo" is what she has called her daughter from birth.[1]
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.[1] She is also actively involved in Christian Ministry.[1][18]
Her good friend is Canadian hurdler Priscilla Lopes-Schliep. Jones congratulated Lopes-Schliep for winning the 100 m 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."
In October 2009, Jones posed semi-nude for ESPN.[19]
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.[20]
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.[21] 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.[22]
| Event | Time (seconds) | Venue | Date |
|---|---|---|---|
| 55 meters hurdles | 7.57 | Gainesville, Florida, United States | March 2, 2003 |
| 60 meters hurdles | 7.72 | Doha, Qatar | March 13, 2010 |
| 100 meters hurdles | 12.43 | Beijing, China | August 18, 2008 |
| 60 meters | 7.29 | Fayetteville, Arkansas, United States | March 14, 2003 |
| 100 meters | 11.24 | Stuttgart, Germany | September 10, 2006 |
| Year | Competition | Venue | Position | Event | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2006 | World Athletics Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 5th | 100 m dash | |
| 6th | 100 m hurdles | ||||
| 2007 | World Championships | Osaka, Japan | 6th | 100 m hurdles | |
| 2008 | World Indoor Championships | Valencia, Spain | 1st | 60 m hurdles | |
| Olympic Games | Beijing, China | 7th | 100 m hurdles | ||
| World Athletics Final | Stuttgart, Germany | 2nd | 100 m hurdles | ||
| 2010 | World Indoor Championships | Doha, Qatar | 1st | 60 m hurdles |
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