Lolo Jones Reveals Metaphorical Dream Where She Fights Against Claressa Shields
Lolo Jones is sharing her dream about fighting an Olympic boxing champion which seems to be a metaphor for some deeper obstacles she is facing.
The 33-year-old Olympic hurdler who is attempting to participate in the upcoming Summer Olympics got candid about her dream on Twitter.
"Ain't thing to start drama but in my dream last night, I got in a fight with Olympic boxing champ @Claressashields. I wasn't even scared I knew I wasn't going to win," Jones tweeted. "But I knew @Claressashields was about to knock me out cold. Still looked her dead in the eye and faced her."
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For Jones, the dream is telling of a deeper reality she is facing.
"I'm facing big mountains in my life," she wrote. "Similar to my dream, I'm facing opposition that is bigger, stronger than me but I'll never back down."
The Christian hurdler and bobsledder is attempting to win an Olympic medal in Rio De Janeiro but has been held back from participating in meets because of injuries. In April she suffered from a tweaked hamstring that sidelined her after undergoing a hip surgery last year.
Still, Jones believes that God has helped her speed up her preparation for the Olympics.
"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."
