Lolo Jones

Education

Language Studies - Spanish, Economics - Louisiana State University, Baton Rouge, LA, USA

Coach

Dennis Shaver (usatf.org, 31 Dec 2011)

Injuries

She underwent surgery to repair her spinal cord in 2011. She had trouble with simple skills like walking, but made her return to the track at the 2012 U.S. Open. (sports.yahoo.com, 01 Feb 2012)

Additional information

Hero
Hurdler, Kim Carson. (waitingtillmarriage.org, 28 May 2012)

Awards
She was named VISA Humanitarian Athlete of the Year in 2008, and is an 11-time NCAA All-American. (usatf.org, 31 Dec 2011)

General
DONATION
She was named 2008 Visa Humanitarian Athlete of the Year after donating her $4,000 in prize money from the Olympic Trials to a fund assisting Renee Trout, a single mother from Cedar Rapids, Iowa, who was a victim of the Iowa floods. Her sponsors also each matched the $4,000 prize, bringing the total donation to $12,000. She also gave each girl on Theodore Roosevelt High School track team a pair of spikes and made a $3,000 donation to the school to repair the track and buy hurdles while in town for the Drake Relays. (usatf.org, 31 Dec 2011)

MIXED DESCENT
She is of French, African-American, Native American and Norwegian descent. (usatf.org, 31 Dec 2011)

SALVATION ARMY
She attended eight schools in eight years while her single mother, Lori, often held down two jobs to support her family of six. Her father spent most of her childhood either in the Air Force or state prison. In third grade, the family settled in the basement of a Des Moines Salvation Army church. During the summer when day camps were offered at the church, she would wake up early to avoid being teased by other kids if they found out she was living in the basement. Her family was so poor that she had to shoplift frozen dinner when she was young. She quoted in her documentary: "I definitely would say, by sixth grade, I was a professional shoplifter." She said that her family once used food stamps to purchase staple items such as cheese and beans in supermarkets. (waitingtillmarriage.org, 28 May 2012)

UNTIL MARRIAGE
She has spoken out about her determination to never have pre-marital sex. "It's just something, a gift that I want to give to my husband. But please understand this journey has been hard. If there's virgins out there, I just want 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." (Real Sports, 23 May 2012)

Previous Olympics

Beijing 2008