Olympic track star Lolo Jones has angered the United States bobsled team, with whom she's been training, by poking fun at her paycheck that she earned while working with them.
Jones linked to a Vine video with the check's amount, $741.84, along with the message "Seven months with bobsled season. The whole season. That's it. I'm going to be a little late on my rent this month."
Steven Holcomb, a decorated and respected bobsledder commented in the media that the bobsledding community found her joke to be in poor taste. "It wasn't taken very well. People were really kind of insulted. You just made $741, more than most athletes in the sport. So what are you complaining about?"
Jones has since issued a statement of apology in which she explains she was just trying to highlight the difference in compensation for track athletes and bobsledders, despite the fact that both are life-consuming Olympic sports.
"I can't imagine halfway through my track season having to stop and raise money to finish. The vine of the paycheck is just showing the difference between track and bobsled, and to be honest bobsledders work more hours than track! The bottom line is that all Olympic athletes dedicate their lives to their sports and do not receive lucrative paychecks like athletes in mainstream professional sports. So hopefully this will make people appreciate just how hard Olympians work, often just for the love of the sport."
Jones also described how she originally joined the bobsled team to get away from track and "quiet the noise" that surrounded her. She also saw it as an excellent method of cross training.
"If bobsled brought me one thing, it brought me peace and I was able to just get away," Jones said. "I could have just hid out in my house, but with bobsled I was able to actually get out of my house and go to the French Alps, Swiss Alps and just be one of them -- a USA bobsled teammate and nothing else."
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