Track star Lolo Jones is a bit like tennis ace Anna Kournikova: more famous for her stunning beauty than her achievements on the track.
But the gorgeous former USA Outdoor hurdling champ wants to change that, starting with the 2012 U.S. Open Track & Field meet, which takes places at Madison Square Garden Jan. 28 and will be televised Jan. 29 on ESPN2.
[UPDATE: Lolo Jones wins first race since back surgery]
Jones, 29, is coming off an injury-riddled 2011, during which she underwent spinal-cord surgery and months of intense rehab. But this is an Olympic year, so the stakes are higher, and Lolo wants to rise to the occasion.
“I had back surgery (last year so) I decided to shut it down after USA Outdoors (in June 2011)," Jones told reporters at a press conference in NYC Jan. 27, 2012.
"We were struggling with the injury all year. We thought, ‘What is the point of going to Europe to salvage a season that was basically unsalvageable?’ If I wasn’t an elite athlete it (my back problems) wouldn’t have been noticed until I was 40."
Recovery post-surgery was long and grueling. "It was a surgery to repair my spinal cord," she says.
"The nerve in my spine won’t be healed until World Indoors. The rehab has been kicking my butt and super-intense. After surgery I couldn’t do anything for a month. My first goal was to walk for 20 minutes. It’s crazy how rehab is toning up everything and making it come together.”
With the Olympic trials on the horizon in six months, Jones concedes she feels like an underdog these days.
In the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Jones, who was favored to win the 100-meter hurdles, famously tripped on the penultimate hurdle and finished a disappointing seventh.
"I know a lot of people are starting to doubt me, saying, 'I don't understand why she gets all this hype. Oh, she better do something,' " said Jones.
"I always use the downs to propel me for the ups. Hurdles aren't road blocks to me. They're something that can launch you," Jones said. "They're opportunities."
