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Related: Editorials & Other Articles, Issue Forums, Alliance Forums, Region ForumsTearful Lolo Jones: Media 'ripped me to shreds' before race
Nursing a broken heart from a disappointing fourth-place finish in Tuesdays 100-meter hurdles, an emotional Lolo Jones fired back at her critics on Wednesday.
Jones opened up about a Saturday New York Times piece that compared her to Anna Kournikova, the former tennis pro known more for her good looks than her accomplishments on the court.
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 didnt 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 dont boast about these things, I dont think I should be ripped apart by media. I laid it out there, fought hard for my country and its just a shame that I have to deal with so much backlash when Im already so brokenhearted as it is.
http://todayinlondonblog.today.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2012/08/08/13179583-tearful-lolo-jones-media-ripped-me-to-shreds-before-race?lite
I feel so bad for her. She's a great athlete. All she wanted to do was win a medal for her country and people just want to spit on her
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Why should she be any different?
frylock
(34,825 posts)and as she pointed out, she has made some accomplishments.
Drunken Irishman
(34,857 posts)It's been better this go around, but when he burst onto the scene four years ago, there were a lot of digs at his looks.
It's sad looks trump talent.
frylock
(34,825 posts)yeah, it is sad. good thing the media wasn't like that when The Bambino was playing.
Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)My (least) favorite media ploy is spreading gossip while saying how terrible it is, and we have several prime examples from these Olympics
phantom power
(25,966 posts)having to compete and try to be focused under the olympic media microscope
cthulu2016
(10,960 posts)I don't know that her fourth place finish was unexpected. Which of her team-mates should she have beaten?
The finish order was:
AUSTRALIA
USA
USA
USA (Lolo Jones)
I also do not know that US media "should be supporting our U.S. Olympic athletes."
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)Sally Pearson. Harper lost by .02 of a second. That's as close as it gets. Kellie Wells ran a great race too. Those three are the athletes who should be getting the attention.
Bandit
(21,475 posts)Why should not every single American, and American business support our athletes? What's not to support?
spanone
(135,776 posts)Rabid_Rabbit
(131 posts)tearing down people that have accomplished something. Just like the Gabby Douglas hair controversy.
GoCubsGo
(32,073 posts)The first is hyping them to the point where they can't always live up to the hype. Then they tear them down. Or, ignore them altogether. Case in point: Jordyn Wieber. Going into the games, she was the media's Golden Girl. When it came to the women's gymnastics team, she was all we heard about. When she missed the all-around, she pretty much became persona non gratis.
They over-hyped Michael Phelps, and when he didn't place in that first race, they tore him apart, too. The same with Ryan Lochte. And, Gabby has been replaced by Aly Raisman as the Golden Girl. It's revolting.
mrs_p
(3,014 posts)The NYT pretty much did a hit piece on her. Why two days before the race? Her crime is being a female athlete. Oh, the horror. Fuckers.
http://www.slate.com/blogs/five_ring_circus/2012/08/06/lolo_jones_2012_olympics_the_new_york_times_goes_after_the_olympic_hurdler_and_gets_olympic_sexism_wrong_.html?fb_action_ids=10151065642308880&fb_action_types=og.likes&fb_source=aggregation&fb_aggregation_id=288381481237582
LisaL
(44,967 posts)Can't blame media for this one.
madaboutharry
(40,181 posts)to struggle to even make the team. She missed a medal by a tenth of a second. It is an accomplishment.
The media loves to rip people down.
She's a nice person. People in Des Moines love her.
yellowcanine
(35,693 posts)which most people cannot even dream about. Sorry, but her situation doesn't come close to comparing with the genuine heart break many people face in the world.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)for being the arbiter of what constitutes 'real' heartbreak...
yellowcanine
(35,693 posts)Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)and don't reach the goal you've devoted yourself to, that IS heartbreaking. i guess you don't have any experience in the area or you'd know that. A lot of us peons have felt it.
yellowcanine
(35,693 posts)This isn't.
ProdigalJunkMail
(12,017 posts)'those athletes' because he/she knows what 'real' heartbreak is about...oh, and he/she is better than you (and me), too, since you believe that someone can feel real pain in a situation like not medalling in something you have worked countless years toward. that pain is shallow and unworthy of y'dog's concern.
sP
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)Of course losing a race does not compare to losing a loved one. Nobody ever said it did. But, when you spend years of your life working toward a specific goal and then coming just short of realizing that goal...well, it is going to hurt. A lot.
But whatever. Why do I even bother here.
HooptieWagon
(17,064 posts)Everybody in the race spent years in training and sacrifices. Only one is whining about it.
RockaFowler
(7,429 posts)Why aren't we talking about the women who actually won the race?? Everywhere I turn today it's about Lolo. She didn't place . . . again.
joeybee12
(56,177 posts)She's a track and field grifter...get off the stage, Lolo.
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)...I am sick and tired of hearing about how important it is that your virginity is intact when you get married...
MrBig
(640 posts)I haven't read everything she has said to the media, but I have yet to see anything that resembled preaching or chastising of those who are not virgins at marriage. It seems when she discusses it, she talks about her own personal resolution to be a virgin at marriage and how difficult that can be.
People have chosen to make a big story out of her choice and that's on the media more than it is her.
truebrit71
(20,805 posts)...and I'm sorry Lolo, no matter how heart-breaking it was in Peking in 2008, it doesn't automatically entitle you to a medal this time around...the other ladies ran faster than you this year as well...
Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)mathematic
(1,431 posts)Americans get 2 & 3 and somehow it's all about Lolo. She needs to get real. Dawn Harper beat her in two Olympics, getting gold and silver. She's the one that deserves the media attention.
All Jones wanted to do was win a medal for herself. See, Pearson is virtually unbeatable and the other two medals went to Americans so those medals were already won for her country by better hurdlers. Dawn Harper for the silver and Kellie Wells for the bronze.
ellisonz
(27,711 posts)yellowcanine
(35,693 posts)she ran the race, not the NY Times writer. And to be "broken hearted" about missing an Olympic medal by .1 second? Please. A chance to even compete in the Olympics puts you at a level that many cannot even dream about. Sorry, hard to gin up a lot of sympathy for your "broken heart."
Response to Cali_Democrat (Original post)
seabeyond This message was self-deleted by its author.
malaise
(268,639 posts)I do feel sorry for her
Alduin
(501 posts)Who really gives a fuck about her?
She's the Tim Tebow of track.
lindysalsagal
(20,561 posts)and then never get it that god just didn't want them to win that medal/game/husband/job/insert trinket here. God was really on someone else's side that day. Sorry. The religious posing didn't buy enough mojo from god. He didn't keep his end of the bargain.
This is why I avoid religion altogether: It messes with your head, and if you're an international athlete, there's always a camera nearby.
If she ever grows up, she'll regret that interview.
alp227
(32,002 posts)Please watch it if you feel you've lost some IQ points from reading her virginity comments.
Dawgs
(14,755 posts)She should be embarrassed.
Union Scribe
(7,099 posts)fishwax
(29,148 posts)extent to which the media has provided coverage to Lolo compared to Harper and Wells, both of whom won medals. Harper beat Lolo in Beijing to win gold and beat her again in the Olympic trials for London. But Lolo is the one who has gotten the media coverage and the bulk of the endorsement money. Now, in the wake of Harper beating Lolo again, winning silver (in an event where winning a medal at multiple games is pretty rare), most of the press coverage is still about Lolo Jones.
She's not the Anna Kournikova of track (a comparison that, incidentally, didn't come from the writer of the article), but the critical NY Times article is a function of the same media attention from which Lolo Jones has undoubtedly benefited, raising her profile and making her more appealing to marketers.
I was happy to see Jones run well, make the finals, and finish strong in fourth place--definitely an amazing accomplishment. I was also really happy for Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells, who overcame difficult personal circumstances, trained hard to be at their best, and were able to claim silver and bronze at the Olympic games.
hifiguy
(33,688 posts)One step more and Harper would have caught and passed Pearson. Great race by all three of the medal-winners.
AngryOldDem
(14,061 posts)"Runner's World" had a profile of her a few issues back. She had a hellish childhood.
I was so thrilled to see her medal.
BeyondGeography
(39,339 posts)Not really interested in the rest.
Tom Ripley
(4,945 posts)joeybee12
(56,177 posts)What a crybaby. She finished 3rd at the Olympic trials...anyone who followed this knew she wasn't a threat, but her PR made her into a big star for no good reason.
Blue_Tires
(55,445 posts)but that NYT piece was a hack job...