Lolo Jones Speaker Profile

A USA track and field star, Lolo Jones, was born August 5 1982. She won three NCAA titles and garnered 11 All-American honors while at LSU. She won indoor national titles in 2007 and 2008 in the 60m hurdles, and won her first world championship in 2008 in the same event.

Jones started the 2008 season with hopes of making the 2008 Summer Olympics. She began the indoor campaign with second place finishes in Glasgow, Gothenburg, and Stuttgart in the 60m hurdles. She then picked up a win in Dusseldorf, setting a meet-record in the process. In Karlsruhe, Jones ran a personal best time of 7.77 seconds and finished second to Susanna Kallur, who broke the world record with a time of 7.68 seconds. Jones' time was the second-fastest ever by an American. She was named USA Track & Field's Athlete of the Week on February 12 for her performance in Karlsruhe. At the 2008 USA Indoor Championships, Jones won her second straight national championship with a time of 7.88 seconds and also won the Visa Championship Series title for the 2008 indoor season. At the World Indoor Championships in Valencia, Spain, Jones won the 60m hurdles with a time of 7.80 for her first world championship. Jones opened the 2008 outdoor season with a first place finish at the LSU Alumni Gold meet in Baton Rouge, setting a stadium record in the process.

Graceful in defeat, Lolo Jones demonstrated exemplary sportmanship in congratulating Lopes-Schliep for winning the 100m hurdles final's bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. In a CBC Sports XXIX Summer Olympics interview with broadcaster Ron MacLean on August 19, 2008, Lopes-Schliep commented on Jones: We're good friends. I mean, she came up to me afterwards and said, 'I'm so happy for you guys' (Canada's first track medal since 1996)', like, 'You've been through so much', and she's like, 'right now everything should all come together for you', so she gave me a big hug, you know, I gave her a hug, and a very good sport.