2012 SUMMER OLYMPICS Athletes to watch
wikipedia.com and lolojones.com
ABOVE PHOTO: Lolo Jones.
(Photo: AP)
Lolo Jones can jump any hurdle—on and off the field. Determined to pursue her dream as a U.S. Olympic track and field hurdler at an early age, she lived with several families during her youth just to be able to stay near a track.
At the 2008 Olympic Games, she finished 7th in the 100m hurdles after clipping the 9th hurdle. Despite the outcome, Lolo did not give up. In 2010, she finished as the number 1 100m hurdler in the U.S. and number 2 in the world.
Lori Jones, more commonly known as Lolo Jones, (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.
Lolo Jones was born on August 5, 1982. In her youth, Lori “Lolo” Jones had a series of obstacles to overcome.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 in the Air Force or later in state prison. In third grade, the Jones family settled in the basement of a Des Moines Salvation Army 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.One of those families that took Jones in was Janis Caldwell, who had seen Jones compete at Roosevelt.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.
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