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.

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.

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 4×100-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 4×100-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 4×100-meter team.

Her 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.

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.

In bobsled, she won the 2021 IBSF World Championships as the brakewoman for Kaillie Humphries.

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.

She won a gold medal in the mixed team event at the 2013 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.

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.