Lolo will grace the February cover of Runner's World magazine:
Here's also a video about the shoot:
Twinlab® Fuel is excited to announce its sponsorship of USA Track & Field star Lori "Lolo" Jones.
After graduating from Louisiana State University as an All-American track champion with a degree in economics, she faced a difficult decision: find a job in her field of study, or chase after her athletic dream, potentially with no pay. She chose her dream.
In 2008, she won her second straight USA Indoor Championship, as well as the World Indoor Championship, and was favored to win the 100-meter hurdle at the 2008 Olympics at Beijing. She was in the lead to win the gold medal when she tragically stumbled on the 9th hurdle, leaving her with a 7th place finish. But despite her disappointment, Lolo emerged from Beijing with incredible poise, sportsmanship, and more determination than ever to fulfill her dream.
Off the track, Lolo's life is a story of inspiring perseverance despite many challenges. Her training in track and field was her one constant in a life of continual upheaval—moving eight times in eight years as a child, facing homelessness and hardship. Lolo’s single mother raised her family of six by working two jobs, while Lolo’s father spent most of her childhood either in the Air Force or jail.
Lolo has maintained her focus in spite of trials on and off the track, and now has set her sights on the 2012 Olympics in London.
To get her in peak physical shape, Twinlab will provide Lolo with several sports nutrition products and nutritional supplements, including: Twinlab’s Endurance Fuel, Creatine Fuel, Glutamine Fuel, Pure Fuel and Electrolyte Fuel, as well as Twinlab DrGreene Multi, Twinlab Joint Krill and Twinlab TeaZen white tea concentrates.
Source: Twinlab
World indoor 60 metres hurdles champion Lolo Jones will compete for the United States at the Aviva International Match in Glasgow on Jan 31.
Jones has her eyes on next summer's World Championships in August where she is aiming to atone for the heartbreak of stumbling when leading in the Olympic 100m hurdles final and dropping to seventh place.
The 26-year-old's season began brilliantly when she claimed the world indoor title in Valencia, but it was marred in Beijing where she clipped the penultimate hurdle and lost the gold medal.
She will start her new campaign eager to better her previous two performances at the Kelvin Hall venue where she has finished runner-up on both occasions.
UK Athletics chief executive Niels de Vos welcomed Jones' return to Glasgow.
He said: "These meetings are all about giving our best British athletes the chance to compete against the best in the world and – despite her huge disappointment in Beijing – it is clear that Lolo Jones was the best female high hurdler over the course of last season."
De Vos revealed that Jones will also compete at the Aviva Grand Prix in Birmingham on Feb 21, and added: "Whoever lines up against her in Glasgow and Birmingham will get a perfect illustration of the level they need to be aiming for."
The format of the Aviva International Match sees elite athletes – more accustomed to competing for individual glory – having to earn points for their country.
Teams competing are Great Britain and Northern Ireland, USA, Germany, Sweden and a Commonwealth Select.
Source: Telegraph
Lolo Jones catches us up on what she's been up to during her brief but well-deserved holiday.
Hi again,
Refreshed after an end-of-season break it seems a long time since by last IAAF diary piece. I’ve been away for a short break to Jamaica and then to Las Vegas but my main vacation was in Brazil. We stayed on the island on Florianopolis and it was very laid back and a good place to surf. I’d never been to Brazil before and it was just what I needed, a totally relaxing holiday, after the constant flow of media demands since Beijing.
I returned to training about a week ago and, surprisingly, it has so far gone better than expected. Normally when in my off-season I’m on the couch eating junk food and watching TV for a month, but because it was Olympic year I’ve never stopped. I actually took a month and a half off which was more than usual, but I think because I was rushing around with speaking and media engagements I managed to keep the weight off and started training again having lost some weight!
I feel invigorated for the next year and I’m really looking forward to the World Championships in Berlin. Germany is one of my favourite places to run because their crowds are pretty wild and so knowledgeable about athletics.
I’ve also managed to pick up a couple of sponsors since the Olympic Games and I’m featured in a commercial for a mattress company. They have used my name to sell Low Low prices - instead of Lolo - and the commercial is going to be shown in the southern states, which I’m pretty excited about. They have also given me a beautiful mattress, which is supposed to put the air back into your body. It is worth around $10,000 and is the most expensive mattress I’ve ever had!
I’m also going to Japan in December where my sponsors, Asics, are going to mould me a specific custom made pair of Lolo shoes. I’m so excited by the project because I have really high arches and my feet are so slender and narrow people call by feet skis. The colour? Well, I don’t know yet but Asics switch up their colours from hot pink to gold, so we’ll just have to see.
As for now it is back to the hard slog of training and back out for the indoor season. I hope to start competing again in early February, although I’m undecided about whether to do the US indoor circuit for the first time or the European indoor circuit, which I love.
Lolo
Source: IAAF
Back from a disappointing finish at the Beijing Olympics LoLo Jones keeps her champion spirit alive by spending time with kids at the House of Mercy in Des Moines.
The World Indoor 60m hurdles champion, who shot to worldwide fame when she tripped on a hurdle whilst leading the Olympic final in Beijing, tells spikesmag.com about the tough disjointed upbringing that formed the basis of her success as an elite athlete.
“My mum was pretty broke all the time and moved around from job to job while my dad was in and out of prison. My mum had five kids to look after and would take a temporary job and we often could not afford to pay the rent. We moved around so much I lived in eight houses in eight years.
“My mum always made sure we had food in our bellies. She had a part college education, so took secretarial jobs but they were often temporary jobs
“My dad may have been in and out of jail but he was a very good father when he was around. We would see him one year and then he would not be around for three. As a kid you don’t know that’s not regular. We would visit him to jail but often never know the reason why he was in.
“For a spell we were homeless and so lived in the basement of a church. When day camps were offered at church I woke up early to avoid being teased be the other kids in case they found out I was living in a basement.
“I was always very independent, a real bookworm but I was always involved in sport. I started off playing basketball and started my athletics life in sixth grade as a long distance runner.
“At High School I was always very academic and I had the chance of an academic scholarship in science but it conflicted with my athletics. If you asked me to choose between a science competition and a track meeting, I would always run at the track meet. I saw track as the way I could get an education and a free scholarship.
“I’m very close to my sister and all my siblings were pretty athletic they just had other distractions and could not keep their focus at school.
“I played the violin and cello but often could not keep practicing because of my other interests. I still play now but just for recreation.
“My mum wanted to move to Forest City in Iowa but I would not leave my High School because Forest City did not have a track. I lived with four families in four years to pursue my track and field career and my mum was totally supportive.
“It was hard living with different families. I had to become accustomed to their rules and sometimes it could be very strained, particularly as I was a teenager at the time.
“My mum is also called Lori like me, I get called Lolo to avoid any confusion. She is very proud of me but I’m sure she would be proud of me whatever I would have done in my life.
"Athletics has saved my life in three ways. First it has got me out of poverty. Second it has got me a free education, and third it has become one of the joys of my life. Even when I'm working out and being sick I enjoy it. I love pushing my body to the limits of what it's capable of."
Source: Spikes Magazine
By Pat Shaver
About 250 middle school students representing 46 schools attended the Super-Power Summit at the Polk County Convention Complex on Wednesday, an all-day event aimed at teaching them how to maintain a healthy lifestyle.
And guess who had them jumping and stretching?
"You only get one body to live your life in, and you have to get out and be active," said Olympic athlete Lolo Jones, keynote speaker of the event.
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Before she spoke, Jones taught the kids a few different exercises.
"I run track, and I'm a little tired," she said after the exercises.
Jones compared the body to a race car. Drivers, she said, fill up their cars with premium gas and don't leave the car in the garage until the day of the race.
Each school had two to nine students at the event.
Carrie Scheidel, a member of Iowa Partners: Action for Healthy Kids, which helped plan and fund the event, said the goal was for the students to take what they learned back to their peers.
"Middle school kids have a lot of pressures. Nutrition and physical activity can really help them shine," Scheidel said.
Each school that attended is eligible to apply for a grant for up to $1,500. Scheidel said the students will meet with a teacher and come up with a wellness plan for their school and then apply for the grant.
The hope is for the students to create small changes that they can keep going over the school year, Scheidel said. The grants are funded by the Midwest Dairy Council, Iowa Partners: Action for Healthy Kids and the Iowa Department of Education.
Jayde Murray, 13, from Goodrell Middle School, said she is going to try to get her friends and family to exercise more, and avoid fast food.
"I was excited to hear about what else you could do to exercise, and you can get more energetic from eating fruits and vegetables," Murray said.
Nicole Gibson, 13, and Colby Knight, 14, from Urbandale Middle School, hope to influence their peers to get outside and eat healthy.
"If you give up a short-term pleasure for long-term gain, it can help you be a better athlete," Gibson said.
Jones said her favorite foods were chicken wings, baby carrots and cottage cheese. Her hero is her assistant Kim, who used to run track and has always been an inspiration.
"Just because you're from Iowa doesn't mean you can't be a superstar at the national level," Jones said. "That never deterred me from my dreams. I never gave up."
Source: The Des Moines Register