Last night was a hard one for U.S. track & field athlete Lolo Jones.
“I didn’t get much sleep,” she told Access Hollywood’sShaun Robinson. “I went to bed at probably like 7:30 this morning so, I only got like a couple. I was trying to sleep, but I just could not sleep. It kept repeating in my head and it… it just felt so close.”
Lolo was indeed very close to the gold medal in her event yesterday – the women’s 100m hurdles – she was leading when she tripped on the second-to-last hurdle, finishing 7th. Her U.S. teammate, Dawn Harper, won the gold.
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Lolo, whose Hollywood good looks (she strongly resembles Rashida Jones of “The Office”) definitely get her noticed, was the race favorite following incredible times at the Olympic Trials. Four years ago, she didn’t even make the U.S. Olympic team.
Her mother and her share the same name – Lori. So, she became “Little Lori” – hence the name – Lolo. Her ethnic background is a little bit of everything – French, Norwegian, African American, and Native American.
Collapsing in shock and anguish after her race, Lolo says the toughest part of her 100m hurdle loss was picking herself up off the track afterwards.
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“When I hit that hurdle, you honestly just don’t know what’s happening,” Lolo said. “Literally, I was at the finish line, but my body was like, ‘Wait wait wait, hold on! What are we doing?’ So it was just a shocker.”
“Were you physically, or really, emotionally, having to take that time just to kind of get yourself together before you actually got up and kept going?” Shaun asked.
“Well, I definitely needed to get myself together, because you know, sports and medals, they’re great, but it’s not — you know – it’s not life. And I just wanted to make sure I composed myself just because I know the other girls who did well.”
26-year-old Lolo felt happy, however, for the race’s medalists, including teammate, and gold medal winner, Dawn Harper.
“I went for it all,” Lolo continued. “But the U.S.A. still won the gold, and I guess that’s all that matters… It meant so much for them. And I wanted to be able to really congratulate them with my full heart. So, it took me a moment to get that composure, but I did it,” Lolo told Shaun.
Shaun met up with Dawn also to talk about what the race was like for her.
“Is it kind of bittersweet when you’re talking to a teammate and you know that they’re mistake actually led to your victory?” Shaun asked.
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