If anyone was wondering whether or not breakout Olympic star Lolo Jones was taking her move to the United States bobsled team seriously, she can step on a scale and prove it.
Jones had bulked up big time in preparation for the Winter Olympics, and now clocks in at 157 lbs., a weight gain of over 20 lbs. "I'm the heaviest ever in my life," Jones told USA Today. "It took so much work. I'm three pounds away from my ultimate goal."
While a track star, Jones was often obsessing about controlling her weight and keeping it down; now, she says she's inhaling about 9,000 calories daily to build up power. In fact, she's grown so much that her speed suit recently ripped at the stomach because she'd outgrown it.
"I'm pumped about this muscle weight," Jones said. "My abs are still there. I'm still cut, just super solid."
Jones was encouraged by Elana Myers to pick up bobsledding, according to reports, and won a silver medal in her first World Cup. Her pilot there, Jazmine Fenlator was shocked that such a small-framed woman could compete at that level.
Jones has dropped from her track weight of 133 lbs. to 120 out of disappointment and depression stemming from her fourth-place hurdles finish in the previous summer Olympics. "Who is this skinny girl?" Fenlator wondered.
The USA Today report claims Jones is now downing protein shakes and making late-night McDonald's runs. How can nighttime "double bacon cheeseburgers" help an Olympic athlete?
"Pilots don't like these skinny brakemen so they feel like they're pushing more weight than they have to," Jones said. She added that a common mantra among bobsledders is "mass pushes mass."
Jones also hopes her high profile can raise awareness of bobsledding, and that more people will understand the sport.
"People are just so confused," Jones said. "Bobsled brings a lot of confusion in itself because really the only informative things we have out there is (the Jamaican bobsled movie) Cool Runnings and that's not quite accurate."
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