Lolo Jones does not scare off easily.
The 32-year-old Olympian is coming off surgery to repair a torn labrum in her right shoulder in November but is training full-time in hurdles with an eye on the 2016 Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, USA TODAY Sports reported.
Lolo Jones underwent a three-week fasting effort
She isn't allowed to jump any hurdles yet, but that restriction my elapse this week.
"When I hurdle my arm swings back quite aggressively," the veteran of three Olympics told USA TODAY Sports in an interview before the weekend's NBA All-Star festivities. "It really wiped out my independence. I couldn't really brush my hair, putting on clothes. I needed assistance."
Lolo Jones sympathizes with Oscar Pistorius after his conviction on a culpable homicide charge
She said she originally felt pain in her shoulder after winning bronze in last year's U.S. Outdoor Championships.
Jones made an appearance on "Dancing With the Stars" and considered bobsledding again over the winter but discovered she couldn't push a sled.
Jones said she wants to compete in the 2015 track outdoor season to prepare her for next year's Summer Games.
"I would not be sitting in this chair if I was not having Rio in the back of my mind," said Jones, who finished fourth, just out of the medals at the 2012 Olympics in London, and seventh four years earlier in Beijing.
"I'm definitely looking forward to those Games," she said of the first Olympics to be held in South America.
And her statement is somewhat ironic because of her highly publicized failures in three appearances in the Olympics.
She is most recognized for her heartbreaking, 2008 performance when Jones famously clipped the final hurdle in the Summer Olympics when she was just about to win and fell down, unable to finish the race.
Four years later in London, Jones missed a bronze medal by one-tenth of a second.
Jones also participated in the 2014 Winter Olympics as a push athlete for the bobsled event. She finished 11th for the U.S. women's bobsled team.
Do you think Lolo Jones still is capable of winning an Olympic medal? Comment below or tell us @SportsWN.
© Copyright 2024 Sports World News, All rights reserved. Do not reproduce without permission.