LoloWiki

Lolo Jones struck gold at the World Indoor Championships in Valencia earlier this month with a silky smooth performance in the 60m Hurdles. In her first online diary Lolo writes about how her life has changed after her first major championship success, her future plans and what it was like to meet basketball legend Michael Jordan.

“It’s been a pretty hectic time since the World Indoor Championships in Valencia and I’ve just been to Florida for an Oakley presentation where I’ve met some pretty cool people. Oakley, my personal eyeglass sponsors, have just launched their first sunglasses made specifically for female athletes.

“I put some input into the design of the glasses and it’s been super-exciting be involved. In the past they made just unisex glasses which did always quite look right for women because men have a bigger head. These glasses are really, really light, fit across the bridge of a girl’s nose better and come in more feminine colours like lipstick red.

“There were lots of celebrities at the presentation including Michael Jordan, who was surrounded by his PR people and bodyguards. It took quite a while to set up the chance to chat with him but after I was introduced as a World champion he was super-polite and gave me such a strong handshake. I suffered a bit of a black out and I can’t remember too much about what I said to him, except saying something like he was the best basketball player ever and he said it would be a pleasure to watch me on TV.

“I have been a bit surprised with the level of interest in me since winning the World Indoor title. I made a speech at the Oakley presentation and I was completely booked out with interviews from magazines. I don’t know why they have been so interested in me, but I like to offer my fitness advice and tips to the average Joe in the magazines.”

On training since Valencia…

“I was given one week off and then one week’s active rest in which I would do weights but no running. I told my coach (Dennis Shaver) I was ready to come back after a week but he told me to take one week’s active rest. I’m back to training next week and I can already picture returning back to full training and throwing up again during the hard sessions.”

On her future competition plans…

“I plan to open at the Drake Relays (Apr 24-26) and then do a couple of American meetings and maybe a couple of Golden League meetings. But I need to sit down and draw up a proper schedule before the American Trials.”

On her confidence since winning gold in Valencia…

“You would think that I would be more confident than ever, but I’m also humble. Susanna Kallur pulled out injured (in Valencia) and of the two Canadians one got sick (Angela Whyte) and the other tripped over a hurdle (Priscilla Lopes-Schliep).

“There was also no Michelle Perry (the world 100m hurdles champion) in Valencia or Virginia Powell (two-time US champion), so I’m humble in victory.”

Lolo

Source: IAAF