Her Name is Lolo, She is a World Champ

-Lolo Jones' (@followlolo) first tweet after winning the 60m hurdles at the World Indoor Track & Field Championships.

She did it. She finally did it. She got that gold medal on the day it counted. And she almost leaped over the crash pad - probably eight feet high? - in jubilation.

Yes, there's a video - but hold on. To appreciate the significance of this achievement and to understand why she almost injures herself celebrating, let's reflect...

It's July 6, 2008. Lolo Jones obliterates the 100m hurdles field at the Olympic Trials in Eugene, running 12.29, just under 0.3 seconds faster than runner-up Damu Cherry. Three tenths of a second is an eternity in the 100m hurdles. 12.29 was faster than the American Record held by Gail Devers, the Hurdles Queen, but the wind was illegal for records. Still, the message was clear: Lolo Jones was now the favorite to win in Beijing.

Maybe the pressure was too much. Maybe the ascent into the number one spot happened too fast, physically and mentally. A hurdler's timing is everything. If you make a big leap up in speed, your steps have to adjust. If all of a sudden you have a big red target on your back, your mind has to adjust.

Whatever it was, Lolo hit the second-to-last hurdle in the final in Beijing and we all watched in anguish as the field blew by her and she finished 7th. We hurt in our guts for her as she crouched down on the track in despair.

We all knew who was the best hurdler in that race, but the timing wasn't right.

Over the winter of 2008 and 2009, Lolo dealt with an injury in her hamstring. In April, she was determined to compete at the Drake Relays, which has taken place for over 100 years in her home town of Des Moines, Iowa. They were very proud of their athlete and hyped her appearance at the Relays in the months leading up to the event. She gave speeches and visited schools. She acknowledged she had been dealing with an injury but wanted to perform for the people. "Not just one person raised Lolo Jones, this city raised me," she said.

It was a chilly and rainy day at the Relays, less than optimal for any kind of sprint race, especially one for an athlete with a bad hammy. Lolo, wearing a custom tuxedo-style uniform, tied up in pain halfway down the track and was taken away in tears in a golf cart.

Her races were few and far between until the USA National Championships, where she locked arms with Michelle Perry in the semifinal and did not advance to the final, eliminating her chances of making the World team. The best hurdler in the world couldn't compete at Worlds.

Lolo still finished that season with the second fastest time in the world, after picking herself up and going over to Europe to compete, even though her season would not peak with a shot at the World title.

Still, we knew who the fastest hurdler in the world was.

This season, Lolo has been on fire, running faster and faster overseas, setting the bar high for the rest of the world. But then, at the USA Indoor Championships in Albuquerque last month, it seemed as if Lolo possibly had a problem performing when it counted, as she lost to Ginnie Powell in the final after not losing all season to anyone anywhere.

But today was the day for Lolo. From the gun, everything was perfect. Her face grimaced in effort and concentration, her torso remained steady as her arms and legs flew over the hurdles one by one. She blazed across the line in 7.72, 0.14 seconds faster than runner-up Perdita Felicien of Canada, and took the American Record from the legendary Gail Devers.

And she knew it. How frustrating to have gone through these past couple of years of disappointment. But how much sweeter is this victory than if there had been no previous setbacks? I would argue that this World Championship gold medal means more to Lolo than a gold one from Beijing would have meant in 2008.

Watch a champion achieve her dream and then celebrated unbridled:

-@followlolo (If you're not following her on Twitter yet, you are really missing out in life.)

Congratulations, woman! You deserve every bit of it.

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• Filed Under:  
• Track & Field, Sports

• Tags:
• Olympics
• lolo jones
• doha
• qatar
• world champion
• hurdles
• indoor track and field
• 60m hurdles
• 100m hurdles

This post is related to an event on our Calendar:

• IAAF World Indoor Track & Field Championships