Lolo Jones Nursing Another Injury After Miraculous Hip Surgery Recovery
After a miraculous recovery from hip surgery, Lolo Jones is nursing another injury.
The 33-year-old Christian hurdler and bobsledder is attempting to win an Olympic medal in Rio De Janeiro but is being held back from participating in meets like the Drake Relays in Des Moines, Iowa, April 27-29, due to an injury.
While Jones, an alum of the Des Moines Roosevelt high school in the area, was expected to participate in the race, which could help prepare her for the Olympics, meet director Brian Brown revealed that she was injured.
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"She's tweaked a hamstring," Brown said Tuesday, according to the Des Moines Register. "She's been nursing it, thinking it would be ready and it's just not responding as quickly as she would like."
Despite the fact that she will not participate, Brown revealed that the injury was not extremely serious and just needed the proper time to heal.
"If this injury would have been sustained 10 days earlier than what it was, she feels like it would have been enough for her to get back and be in full contention (at Drake)," Brown said. "It's difficult for her to come when she's not at her best, because she knows the fire she's getting into."
Last year, Jones underwent hip surgery and had an ultra fast recovery that she describes as a miracle. She believes that God has helped her speed up the process.
"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 earlier this year. "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."
