Lolo Jones on managing pain and chasing Olympic dreams
By John Buhler
Lolo Jones has represented the United States in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Still chasing a medal, Jones fights through pain to pursue her dream.
Few athletes have been able to represent their country in both the Summer and Winter Olympics. Lolo Jones has competed for the United States of America in both the hurdles and the bobsleigh. With the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo rapidly approaching, Jones is getting ready one last shot at an Olympic medal.
Jones spoke with FanSided‘s Mark Carman on behalf of cdbMD on how she’s using CBD products to manage pain and how she continues to keep the Olympic dream alive in the latter part of her athletic prime.
“Training is tough,” said Jones. “We talk a lot about my age. I am competing against girls that are 10 years younger than me. I’m feeling the aches and pains of basically all the times I’ve crashed in a bobsled at 90 miles an hour, every hurdle hit I’ve had. So it’s built up, but what’s great about it is the fact that I’m super strong and determined to finish out my goals.”
Jones has competed in the hurdles in the 2008 Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the hurdles in the 2012 Summer Olympic Games in London and the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi. Yet, an Olympic medal has evaded her. When asked where the drive still comes from, Jones would say this.
“I think a lot my drive came from the fact that, if people know anything about my Olympic journey, people know that I’ve come so close to an Olympic medal so many times that I can honestly taste it. So I think my drive comes from picking yourself up after defeat or failure.”
But even in failure and coming so close to winning a medal, Jones believes that people can draw inspiration from Olympic athletes in many ways.
“I think a lot of people look to Olympic athletes when they win, but a lot of times people can be inspired by just taking another step, trying again and not giving up on your dreams. So that’s where I hope to bring inspiration to other people.”
Resiliency is certainly one word that describes Jones on her quest for an Olympic medal, and determination would be another. When asked if CBD products are helping her become a better athlete, Jones would respond to Carman with the following.
“It’s helping me maintain my pain for sure. I had bad whiplash and I was putting one of the recovery creams on my neck to help me with that because there was so much pain. I also take this CBD oil at night to help me sleep because I’m traveling a lot internationally. I struggle with jet lag and insomnia. So I can just take CBD oil and go right to bed.”
“I think a lot my drive came from the fact that, if people know anything about my Olympic journey, people know that I’ve come so close to an Olympic medal so many times that I can honestly taste it. So I think my drive comes from picking yourself up after defeat or failure.”
On her partnering with cbdMD, Jones would say, “I wanted to partner with cbdMD because they put a focus on making sure that there would be no THC, that I wouldn’t fail a drug test. And that was important for me to have that trust level in a company when so much is on the line for me.”
As stated before, 2020 in Tokyo feels like Jones’ last legitimate shot at winning an Olympic medal. She cannot afford to have any product with THC in it undermine her recovery process on her epic quest to win a medal for her country.
Jones also spoke about her foundation, Hurdles for Hope, on why it’s so important to her. “My first pair of running shoes were donated to me because my dad was in prison and my family just couldn’t afford to get me a pair of running shoes. That pair of running shoes changed my life.”
“So I started a foundation to help other kids with parents who are incarcerated…Maybe they’re not going to be an Olympic athlete, but maybe [I can] help them take a stape and get out of poverty.”
Being a tremendous athlete and having an unbreakable spirit helped Jones get out of poverty and go on to represent her country both in the Summer and Winter Olympics.
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When asked if she’s bad at any sport, Jones jokingly said, “I’m bad at losing.” She said that while she was terrible at golf initially, she likes “anything that challenges me”, but if she’s bad at a sport, she’d find a way to get good at it. Jones always has. She won’t let aches and pains get in her way of finally winning a medal for her country. Perhaps it finally happens in 2020 in Tokyo?
Lolo Jones spoke with FanSided’s Mark Carman on behalf of cbdMD.