Surprise! Lolo Jones competes in hurdles at US Olympic track and field trials
EUGENE, Ore. — Lolo Jones finished last in the fourth heat of the women’s 100-meter hurdles Friday night at the U.S. Olympic track and field trials at Hayward Field and no, you have not taken a time machine back to 2008.
Despite her last-place finish, Jones advanced to Saturday's semifinals along with reigning Olympic silver medalist Keni Harrison, who finished first in the heat at 12.49, a season best. Due to the high number of scratches in the women's 100-meter hurdles, all competitors in the heats advanced.
“If I wake up tomorrow and don’t need my cane, we’re going!” said Jones, who last competed at the Olympic track and field trials in 2012 and ran in the Drake Relays in April.
At 41, Jones is now old enough to compete in track and field masters meets. She once held the best time in the world in the 100 hurdles and was a favorite to win gold at the 2008 Beijing Games before she clipped the second-to-last hurdle and finished seventh. Desperate to win an Olympic medal, she later took up bobsled, and competed in the two-woman bobsled at the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi.
Before Friday, Jones hadn’t gone over consecutive hurdles in six to seven weeks because of a lingering hamstring injury. She went over one hurdle Thursday morning and “I was in tears, from the pain.”
Of everyone who ran in the women’s 100 hurdles, Jones easily got the biggest cheer from the Hayward Field crowd.
“I’m so grateful,” Jones said. “It’s been so long, I thought they forgot (me).”
Asked how she made it over 10 hurdles Friday — was it sheer will? adrenaline? — Jones didn’t miss a beat.
“Toradol, she deadpanned before laughing. “The official sponsors of 40 year olds!”
The nonsteroidal anti-inflamatory will be key the rest of the weekend, too.
Jones said she was “pushed out” of bobsled because of her age – she didn’t specify if it was by coaches or the federation, saying it’s a “mixed bag” of who calls the shots – but knew based on her sprinting times that she could still compete in the hurdles. Her goal this season was to become the first female 100-meter hurdler in her 40s to qualify for the trials. Her goal this morning, given her fear of “blowing out my hamstring” was to get through the race.
“Sometimes your world is over in your 20s if you don’t make the (Olympic team,” she said. “I hope to show everyone that you can still be in your 40s and be good enough. And I hope that someone after to me is going to be good enough to throw down in their 40s. The sports science is getting better. I hope these kids can see me and know, there’s longevity in this.”
Harrison finished with the fourth fastest qualifying time. Masai Russell recorded the best time of the day (12.35), followed by Alaysha Johnson (12.37), Tonea Marshall (12.41) and Harrison.
“The competition is harder than it’s ever been but somehow, in my head, I believe I have what it takes and I can still be on top,” Harrison said. “My first trials (in 2012) I was scared, crying in the back. To come out here and feel like I’m ready to go and confident, that’s maturity.”
Nia Ali, the 2016 Olympic silver medalist and the 2019 world champion, finished last in the third heat, telling NBC that she made a last-minute decision not to push it since everyone would automatically advance.
"My warmup didn’t go as planned," said Ali, who had the sixth fastest time in the world coming into the trials. "I knew that everybody made it through. …I did what I had to do."
The final is scheduled for Sunday at 8 p.m (5 p.m. local).
Jones knows 14 seconds doesn’t exactly move the needle in the track and field world. But she believes, deep in her bones, that she could shock the world this weekend and make Team USA.
“If you have a lane,” Jones said, “anything can happen.”
Email Lindsay Schnell at [email protected] and follow her on social media @Lindsay_Schnell