After Lolo Jones finished fourth in Tuesday’s 100-meter hurdles, an emotional Lolo Jones fired back at the media on Wednesday.
Jones responded to a New York Times hatchet job published on Saturday, August 4, titled “For Lolo Jones, Everything Is Image.” The article compared her to former tennis pro, Anna Kournikova, who is known more for her beauty rather than her ability on the court. The article argued that Jones earned her publicity based “not on achievement but on her exotic beauty and on a sad and cynical marketing campaign.”
“I think it was crazy just because it was two days before I competed, and then the fact that it was from a U.S. media,’’ Jones told Savannah Guthrie before fighting back tears. “They should be supporting our U.S. Olympic athletes and instead they just ripped me to shreds. I just thought that that was crazy because I worked six days a week, every day, for four years for a 12-second race and the fact that they just tore me apart, which is heartbreaking.
“They didn’t even do their research, calling me the Anna Kournikova of track. I have the American record. I am the American record holder indoors, I have two world indoor titles. Just because I don’t boast about these things, I don’t think I should be ripped apart by media. I laid it out there, fought hard for my country and it’s just a shame that I have to deal with so much backlash when I’m already so brokenhearted as it is.”
Jones missed receiving a medal by one-tenth of a second. Tuesday night, August 7, she tweeted that she had a “broken heart”
“Definitely, I was crushed afterwards,’’ Jones said. “I know I had the best race of my season. Not the best race of my life, but I had the best race of my year, so I just try to look at that. It doesn’t take away from the pain that I was close to once again having a medal and not getting it.”
Jones, who has overcome adversity and injury, is a popular inspirational speaker says PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency and still has multiple endorsement deals to this day.
PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency is a speakers bureau and top booking agent for Olympic speakers, athlete appearances and endorsements. If you would like hire Lolo Jones for a speaking engagement, appearance, endorsement, autograph signing or special event, request Lolo Jones speaker and Lolo Jones agent information from PFP Sports and Celebrity Talent Agency. For more information call 800.966.1380.
