Lolo Jones Calls Comeback Race Miraculous
Instead of being disappointed with a fourth place finish at her comeback race, Lolo Jones is considering it a miracle that she was even able to participate.
"It was honestly a miracle. They said they never had anybody come back that fast," Jones told the Winston-Salem Journal. "That's a lot of credit to the Olympic training center for helping me through it because physically it was hard, but I was like, 'Man, I don't know if I can get through another surgery because it's been so many of them.'"
The 33-year-old Olympic hurdler participated in the Camel City Elite Races on Jan. 31, three months after undergoing hip surgery. After finishing fourth place in the 60-meter hurdles at 8.17 seconds, Jones called her ability to run in the Winston-Salem, North Carolina race a blessing.
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"I hit a hurdle early on that knocked me out of it. So I'm not disappointed. Every race right now is a blessing because I wasn't expecting to run indoors," she said. "Obviously, everybody has high expectations for me, but I have to tell myself the reality — I just had hip surgery (three months) ago."
The track star burst on the scene after winning three NCAA titles, and running in the 2008 Beijing and 2012 London Olympics. Although she currently holds the U.S. record in the 60-meter hurdles at 7.72 seconds, she has a long way to go to prepare for the Olympics in Rio de Janeiro later this year.
Still, she believes that God has helped her speed up that preparation.
"They say I recovered faster than any other athlete who had hip surgery. Originally, I was told that there was absolutely no way I could recover in time for the indoor track season," Jones revealed in an ESPN report last month. "Recovery went so well, I'm having my first pro race at the end of this month. I think God allowed me to have this breakthrough."
After being on crutches for close to three weeks, the hurdler and bobsledder said she went from walking, to jogging and eventually hurdling. Two months after surgery, Jones began jumping hurdles again.
Still, the road to recovery was not an easy one. After Jones' torn hip labrum resulted in her third major surgery in recent years, she admitted to feeling defeated.
"It was the first time in my career that I thought, I don't know if I can try this again. Mentally, I was breaking down," she told ESPN. "I love running and had a desire to go for Rio in 2016, but the setback was mentally draining. It messed with my confidence."
"In my mind, I couldn't imagine how I could come back quick enough. And after so many surgeries and attempts at the Olympic medal, I had a lot of anxiety and seriously thought about quitting," she revealed. " I had moments when I cried and wanted to give up. I went through the typical stages of feeling sorry for yourself."
Although she has yet to earn a medal for the Olympic games where she competed for hurdling and bobsledding, Jones believes she is better off for the experience after coming up short and being publicly ridiculed.
"It proved to me how mentally tough I am, that I could pour my heart into a sport in the face of failure. This helps going into Rio, where people are saying, 'She's been injured, she's too old, she should throw in the towel,'" Jones continued. "I have already faced failure. You've got to continue to pursue your dreams even when it hurts. It's not how you start, but how you finish."
