It's hard to believe that the Lolo Jones, who once was so open about her virginity, is the same Lolo Jones who was embarrassed to receive a Barbie doll as a child because it exposed her as a less fortunate student.
That embarrassment also was the driving force behind Jones, Olympic hurdler and U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team hopeful return to her hometown of Des Moines, Iowa, to give out free shoes to an elementary school earlier this week.
According to the Des Moines Register, Jones passed out shoes to students at Findley Elementary School through the "Shoes for Hope" event that the Lolo Jones Foundation sponsored.
When she was an elementary school student in Des Moines, the school arranged to give holiday gifts to those students deemed less fortunate. Jones was in that class, elated to get a present but horrified that others knew her circumstances.
"People knew it was because I didn't have money," Jones told the Register. "So I was kind of embarrassed."
So when she came to give away shoes, she made sure the entire school was involved.
"The whole classroom is coming in, everyone gets a pair of shoes," said Jones, who once talked about her virginity publicly in the spring of 2012. "Maybe there are some that don't need it, but there are those that do need it - they're not kind of singled out. You would never know, because they're coming in as a whole classroom.
"They're kind of celebrating together. They're dancing ... so it's pretty cool."
Findley Elementary School Principal Tara Owen said the school is comprised of 96 percent who qualify for free breakfast and lunch programs.
"This is one of the higher poverty schools, definitely," Owen said.
The Register reported that Jones gave away 200 more pairs of shoes to local in the metro area running clubs later in the afternoon. And in between, Jones conducted her training for her bid to make the 2014 Sochi Olympics.
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