Tuesday, August 19, 2008

LSU Still Loves You Lolo Jones!! - Has Stumble in 100m Hurdles (Links)


Thanks for Representing LSU , Your State of Iowa and the USA with Class.

Just a few minutes ago

The final of the women's 100m hurdles - and it's drama all the way! Lolo Jones, the red hot favourite from the United States and LSU Grad , hits the penultimate hurdle with her leading foot, stumbles and allows compatriot Americn Dawn Harper to storm through and take gold. . Sally McLennan of Australia takes silver, Priscilla Lopez-Schliep of Canada takes bronze. Jones finishes in fifth.

Update

Olympics: Lolo Jones hits hurdle, finishes seventh DesMoinesRegister.com, IA

Harper wins gold in hurdles for US, Jones stumbles- Canada,com

Harper wins hurdles after Jones slip The Guardian UK

Update-
LSU Sports Net has Jones Stumbles in Hurdles Final; Lee Advances
ESPN has Don't think the Olympics can be cruel? Just ask Richards, Jones is a heart breaking article by Pat Forde so I will post parts of it as to pertain to Jones:
Richards was the saddest bronze medalist in Beijing, describing herself as "more than snakebit."
"I don't even want to tell you what I'm thinking right now because it's not positive," she said. "I feel so betrayed right now by my body. It's so discouraging."


Then, Lolo Jones in the 100-meter hurdles. Jones, the dominant hurdler in the world, was four-fifths of the way to the finish line and well ahead when she clobbered the ninth of 10 hurdles, staggered through the rest of the race and finished seventh.


Jones collapsed to the track, curling into a bereaved ball for what seemed like an eternity. She lifted her head and looked at the scoreboard through teary eyes, then pounded the track with her fist and crawled forward, then curled up and cried some more.
"About twice a year, you hit a hurdle and it affects your race," Jones said. "Unfortunately, it was the biggest race of my life."......



Not long after, Jones was immersed in her own struggle to accept the cruelty of Olympic fate.
She'd posted the fastest time in the world in 2008 in the semifinals, recording a personal-best 12.43 seconds. She appeared to be in a different class from her competition, needing only a clean trip over 10 hurdles to win gold.

Jones had been tripped up by a hurdle in the 2004 Olympic trials, falling after hitting a late hurdle in the preliminaries. She entered an emotional and financial dark period after that, losing sponsorship and briefly losing motivation. She worked two jobs to pay the bills and ran the air conditioning in her Baton Rouge, La., apartment only when absolutely necessary.

But Jones got her career back on track, signed a sponsorship deal with Asics and rose to the top of her discipline. She was dominant at the U.S. trials in Oregon and again here.

And she was dominant for the first 80 meters Tuesday night, moving well clear of field. Then her speed got the best of her and she hammered the penultimate hurdle with her leading foot.
"It's like driving a car at maximum velocity and coming to a curve," she said. "You can either maintain control or crash and burn. Today, I crashed and burned.
"It's the hurdles. If you can't finish all 10, you can't be a champion."

Jones regrouped and cleared the 10th hurdle, but was clearly out of the race and visibly distressed by the time she hit the finish line. Fellow American Dawn Harper was the gold medalist, in a time more than a tenth slower than Jones' semifinal clocking.

Harper set off in a delirious victory lap and never bothered to look back at Jones, stricken on the track. Neither did the surprise silver and bronze medalists, Australian Sally McLellan and Canadian Priscilla Lopes-Schleip. American fourth-place finisher Damu Cherry placed her hands sympathetically on Jones' shoulders as she sat on her knees and cried.

"Today's hard, tomorrow's going to be harder," Jones said. "But what can you do but try again?
"It's the hurdles. We're supposed to be the toughest ones. So I'm going to be tough and try again."
As Jones was making her way through the mixed zone, she briefly cut her eyes to the flat-screen TV to her right. Then she looked away.

There, on the screen, was Harper preparing to accept the gold medal Jones knew belonged to her


Update- UGGHH just saw it again on TV. So Sad I hope she tries for London :(
She is just one of those people that just should win for being such a good person beating incredible odds. :(

Anyway GEAUX LOLO GEAUX TIGERS GEAUX USA SHE REPRESENTED US WELL
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