theGrio

Back to the Top

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Home
  • Entertainment
    • Music
    • The Dish
  • Health
    • Ask Dr. Ty
    • Black Men’s Health
    • Black Women and Breast Cancer
    • Back to School Health
  • Living
    • Travel and Leisure
    • Living Forward
    • Books
  • Politics
    • Perry on Politics
  • Sports
  • News
    • Good News
  • Opinion

News

Lolo Jones picked for World Cup bobsled spot

by Tim Reynolds, Associated Press | November 5, 2012 at 11:02 AM
Comments
Print
Lolo Jones waiting for her run at the U.S. women's bobsled push championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. Jones says she's still planning to compete in hurdles at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Only now, a trip to the 2014 Sochi Games may come first. Jones was one of 24 athletes selected to the U.S. bobsled team Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Lynch, File)

Lolo Jones waiting for her run at the U.S. women's bobsled push championships in Lake Placid, N.Y. Jones says she's still planning to compete in hurdles at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics. Only now, a trip to the 2014 Sochi Games may come first. Jones was one of 24 athletes selected to the U.S. bobsled team Thursday, Oct. 25, 2012. (AP Photo/Michael Lynch, File)

Related Posts

  • Real life 'Cool Runnings'? Lolo Jones selected to US bobsled team
  • Lolo Jones, colorism and the white-male driven media machine
  • Lolo Jones: London gold is calling
  • Lolo Jones advances to hurdles semifinal, responds to 'haters'
  • Can 'Project X' help Lolo Jones win Olympic Gold?

Lolo Jones’ international bobsled debut will come at the sport’s highest level — the World Cup circuit.

The Olympic hurdler was one of three women’s push athletes selected to compete for the U.S. in this weekend’s World Cup opener at Lake Placid, N.Y. Jones, who tried the sport for the first time just last month, will be in the back of USA-3 with Jazmine Fenlator as her pilot.

Last month, Jones was one of six push athletes chosen for the women’s national team. That did not guarantee her a spot in a World Cup event, though after the final race-off data was calculated on Sunday night, Jones had her spot.

The U.S. Bobsled and Skeleton Federation is expected to release the full team lineup, including pairings for the men’s sleds, on Monday.

All three women’s push athletes who were picked by the USBSF for the first World Cup are rookies. Tianna Madison — an Olympic gold medalist sprinter, part of the team that easily broke the world record in the 4×100-meter relay to win the title at the London Games — will be pushing USA-1, piloted by Elana Meyers.

And another athlete with a track background, Aja Evans, will push USA-2, piloted by Jamie Greubel. Evans turned heads immediately in Lake Placid by winning the team’s push championship.

“Aja’s upside is unbelievable,” U.S. coach Todd Hays said.

Jones and Madison were invited to compete in the team’s push championships — which do not occur on ice — by Hays, who wanted veteran Olympians around the team to provide morale and inspiration. He also wanted to see if he could follow a common path in bobsled, seeing if the explosiveness of track athletes would work on the ice.

Jones and Madison did not disappoint, and Hays said he was especially impressed by how much work they were willing to put in to learn a new sport in a relatively short amount of time. Now, they’ll get their chance to compete against the world’s best in their first international competition.

The women’s bobsled race at the first World Cup is scheduled for Friday morning at Mount Van Hoevenberg.

Reigning women’s skeleton world champion Katie Uhlaender is scheduled to open her international season Thursday, with men’s skeleton also starting that day. Two-man bobsledding is set for Friday and four-man bobsledding is Saturday, when the “Night Train” team of Steven Holcomb, Steve Langton, Curt Tomasevicz and Justin Olsen is expected to begin defense of its world championship.

Jones was the gold-medal favorite before hitting a hurdle and finishing seventh at the Beijing Olympics in 2008, then managed a fourth-place finish in London this past summer. Jones still plans to compete in hurdles at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics, although now she also has a legitimate chance of earning a spot on the U.S. team heading to the 2014 Sochi Games.

Copyright 2012 The Associated Press.

  • Michael Brooks
    Next Story:

    Man allegedly abandons 400 lb wife to die in her home

  • Hall of Fame quarterback and current Fox Sports football analyst Terry Bradshaw looks on as the New Orleans Saints play against the Minnesota Vikings during the NFC Championship Game at the Louisiana Superdome on January 24, 2010 in New Orleans, Louisiana. The Saints won 31-28 in overtime. (Photo by Ronald Martinez/Getty Images)
    Previous Story:

    Terry Bradshaw likens Reggie Bush’s touchdown run to ‘chasing chicken’

Filed in: News, Sports | Related Topics: Bobsled, Lolo Jones, Olympics, Winter Olympics
  • Learn about our User Panel

    Read More
  • New Stories on theGrio

    • Chicago Board of Ed votes to close 50 schools Chicago Board of Ed votes to close 50 schools
    • Cash Money Records signs Paris Hilton? Cash Money Records signs Paris Hilton?
    • First lady makes Forbes’ ‘Most Powerful Women’ First lady makes Forbes’ ‘Most Powerful Women’
    • Comedians pay tribute to ‘Bill Cosby: Himself’ 30 years later Comedians pay tribute to ‘Bill Cosby: Himself’ 30 years later
    • Ray J a ‘huge fan’ of Kanye West
    • Funeral program for Malcolm Shabazz released
    • Darius Rucker responds to racist tweet from country fan
    • Is Beyoncé really a feminist?
  • What Your Friends Are Reading

  • More from theGrio

More Stories on theGrio

Top News

Politics

  • U.S. Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., speaks at the New Hampshire Republican State Committee Liberty Dinner, Monday, May 20, 2013 in Concord , N.H. (AP Photo/Jim Cole)

    GOP leaders say Obama impeachment talk premature

  • Desiree Rogers appointed to Choose Chicago Board

  • Obama pledges urgent aid to Oklahoma town

  • South Africa: Mandela name becomes political football

» Read More in Politics

Business

  • cash-16x9.jpg

    Payday loans: A debt trap in disguise

  • Tiger Woods makes a comeback on the course, and in video game sales

  • A timeless classic: Top career lessons from ‘The Great Gatsby’

  • Boyz II Men appear in new Old Navy commercial

» Read More in Business

Living

  • Using a cheek sample or blood sample, Myriad’s laboratory delivers a report to the person’s physician, outlining the person’s risk.

    The breast cancer genetic test folks are talking about

  • Young black producer shakes up Great White Way

  • Essence, MSNBC unite for live coverage of the 2013 Essence Fest

  • Black anti-abortion activists see 'houses of horror' everywhere

» Read More in Living

Inspiration

  • Abdulah Salim, Jr. hold the photograph of his father Dr. Reginald A. Hawkins who was a prominent Charlotte civil rights leader, in Silver Spring, Md. In the spring of 1963, a Hawkins led 65 people on a four-mile march from an African American college to the center of Charlotte’s downtown. ( AP Photo/Jose Luis Magana)

    Charlotte remembers 1963 desegregation 'eat-in'

  • Tornado survivor saved by teacher

  • Obama speech makes Morehouse grads 'proud'

  • Twins named Spelman valedictorians

» Read More in Inspiration

Entertainment

  • Dr. Conrad Murray sits in court after he was sentenced for the involuntary manslaughter of singer Michael Jackson at the Los Angeles Superior Court on November 29, 2011 in Los Angeles, California. (Photo by Mario Anzuoni-Pool/Getty Images)

    Lawyer: No background check done on Michael Jackson doctor

  • Holy hologram! RIP rappers making a comeback

  • Hulk Hogan ♥'s Miguel's 'leg drop'

  • Eminem's publisher sues Facebook over song usage

» Read More in Entertainment

News

  • Gywan Levine Jr., 12, was fatally shot during a robbery. (Courtesy NBC New York)

    Boy, 12, killed in robbery attempt

  • Durant makes $1M pledge for tornado victims

  • Court decision pending in NYPD stop-and-frisk case

  • Farai Chideya: Journalism is heading for ‘GOP-style problems'

» Read More in News

Main menu

Skip to primary content
Skip to secondary content
  • Politics
  • Living
  • Video
  • Inspire
  • Health
  • Entertainment
  • News
  • Terms of Service
  • Privacy Policy
  • Advertise with TheGrio
  • About
©2013 NBCUniversal
Powered by WordPress.com VIP