By the time 2012 came along Jones had defended her indoor world title in 2010 but missed the majority of her 2011 season due to injury and illness. She qualified third at the Olympic Trials sending her to London with a promising chance. She made it to the finals coming short in 4th place. By the time this Olympics had come there was already controversy over the 31 year old Jones saying that she has become famous for failing. She has had teammates openly criticize her and a New York Times article stating her fame comes "not on achievement, but on her exotic beauty." Throughout the scandals Jones remained positive as she chose a new path for her life: bobsledding.
Introduced by friend Elena Meyers, Lolo decided to try it after the 2008 Olympics for fun. Though it is common for track athletes to also compete in bobsled, as seen from Jones' track and field teammate Lauryn Williams, a switch of sports carried with it the controversy. Jones was added to the Women's National Team in 2012 and was told she was not worthy of her spot, but proved herself by winning silver at the 2012 World Cup. She continued pushing through, setting her sights on Sochi 2014. She and teammate Jazmine Fenlator were added to the US Olympic roster after achieving gold at the 2013 World Championship in St. Moritz. Making the team brought deeper hate being throw at Jones, having teammates on the National Team saying that she was not qualified.
She trained her hardest and when February came around she was ready, or at least thought she was. On her first, and only, race in the Olympics she placed 11th coming in 3.36 seconds behind the leader, Canada. Although the other two US bobsled teams made it to the finals, she received a lot of hate from people close to the sport. Vancouver US Bobsled athlete Chuck Berkely tweeted "Absolutely no doubt that @KatieEberling would have done better for USA3. Hope the marketing dollars were worth it. #merit." Jones has been quiet about the hate received from bobsled but supported her other teammates in the final, watching them win silver and bronze.
She plans on taking a little time off and then returning for the upcoming track and field season. When asked about her future in bobsled, Jones simply answered "I don't know."
Introduced by friend Elena Meyers, Lolo decided to try it after the 2008 Olympics for fun. Though it is common for track athletes to also compete in bobsled, as seen from Jones' track and field teammate Lauryn Williams, a switch of sports carried with it the controversy. Jones was added to the Women's National Team in 2012 and was told she was not worthy of her spot, but proved herself by winning silver at the 2012 World Cup. She continued pushing through, setting her sights on Sochi 2014. She and teammate Jazmine Fenlator were added to the US Olympic roster after achieving gold at the 2013 World Championship in St. Moritz. Making the team brought deeper hate being throw at Jones, having teammates on the National Team saying that she was not qualified.
She trained her hardest and when February came around she was ready, or at least thought she was. On her first, and only, race in the Olympics she placed 11th coming in 3.36 seconds behind the leader, Canada. Although the other two US bobsled teams made it to the finals, she received a lot of hate from people close to the sport. Vancouver US Bobsled athlete Chuck Berkely tweeted "Absolutely no doubt that @KatieEberling would have done better for USA3. Hope the marketing dollars were worth it. #merit." Jones has been quiet about the hate received from bobsled but supported her other teammates in the final, watching them win silver and bronze.
She plans on taking a little time off and then returning for the upcoming track and field season. When asked about her future in bobsled, Jones simply answered "I don't know."
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