Lolo Jones cries for Lolo Jones

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 19:15:00 +0000

After Lolo Jones' fourth-place finish in the 100m hurdles Tuesday, Allen Barra declared in Salon that "No one cries for Lolo Jones." It was a reference to the outstanding envy and schadenfreude the 30-year-old has inspired, from that seriously bitchy New York Times piece about how her "image is everything" to her silver medalist teammate Dawn Harper's remarks that "I've put so much out there and sacrificed so much, I feel like my life story has kind of been trampled on for the last four years.'" ESPN, a little too gleefully, characterized Jones' finish yesterday as a "very disappointing fourth." She finished one-tenth of a second behind bronze medalist Kellie Wells. OH MY GOD WHAT A LOSER.

Yet it turns out that someone does cry for Lolo Jones. Lolo Jones.

Semenya in Olympic debut

Wed, 08 Aug 2012 14:15:00 +0000

LONDON (AP) — Caster Semenya perched herself on a lane marker behind the start of the 800 meters and took a few moments to absorb what it feels like to be an Olympian.

She took some deep breaths, then got up, walked to the stagger start and went straight to work. Making her Olympic debut three years after being forced to undergo gender tests that cast doubt over her future in track and field, Semenya finished second in her preliminary heat Wednesday.

The 80,000-seat stadium was almost full, but she's used to big crowds. The whole experience, though, was something new.

"It was a very important race," Semenya said. "It was a tactical race. I wanted the race to be a fast one. To be a good contender, you have to run under 2 minutes."

This is the Semenya of 2012: She's 21 and she's reserved, almost guarded, and generally restricts her public comments to topics of competition.

And who could blame her?

She was still a teenager when she had no choice but to endure having the most intimate details of her life debated and discussed in the global media.

Semenya was sidelined for 11 months — while track and field's governing body decided whether or not to allow her to compete — after she won the 2009 world title at age 18, posting a stunning time of 1 minute, 55.45 seconds.

Salon.com > Track and Field

Lolo Jones cries for Lolo Jones

Semenya in Olympic debut