They can't keep Lolo down.
On the eve of the start of the women's bobsled competition at the 2014 Winter Olympics, Jones, a brakewoman, is preparing to compete in Team USA's third bobsled team with driver Jazmine Fenlator.
The two are considered the longest shots of the three U.S. teams to earn a medal in the women's bobsled. Top driver Elana Meyers and brakewoman Lauryn Williams, another track and field crossover who got involved in the bobsled last year, comprise the top team. Drive Jamie Greubel and brakewoman Aja Evans are on the second team.
Jones, one of the most popular and polarizing of the current U.S. Olympians, drew scrutiny in her quest to become part of the U.S. Olympic Bobsled Team. She first drew in fans during the 2008 Summer Olympics when she was two hurdles away from the 100-meter hurdles gold medal in Beijing, only to clip the next to last hurdle and slow down to a seventh-place finish.
She then finished one-tenth of a second out of a bronze medal in the 100-meter hurdles during the 2012 Olympics in London.
Through it all, her personality during interviews and on Twitter has received a disproportionate share of media attention, compared to that of other Olympians, which has resulted in backlash and jealousy.
Brakewomen Katie Eberling and Emily Azevedo, who competed with Jones for a spot on the bobsled team, both suggested Jones' popularity played a factor in her selection over them, even though both are more experienced.
Azevedo even suggested that she should've been working on her Twitter following to compete against Jones (who has some 387,000 followers) for a spot.
On Monday, Jones answered her critics.
"If I have to take a whole bunch of crazy bad Twitter replies or hate mail or (people) saying I get more publicity, I don't care," Jones said, as reported by the Boston Globe. "For that 1 percent that I inspire who say, 'Man she came so close to a medal so many times and she didn't give up, instead she's found a new way to go after her goal,' it was all worth it."
NBC analyst Ato Bolden, a four-time Olympic medal-winning sprinter, says even if Jones wins gold, she won't erase the jealousy or backlash over her career.
"Even if she wins gold people will still roll their eyes," said Bolden, who is covering the Games in Sochi. "People have already made up their minds about Lolo in a way that's almost unfair."
But if she has found a way to give herself as many chances as she could to realize her dreams, so be it.
"You're fighting for that Olympic dream," said Jones. "You're fighting for that gold medal. At the end of the day, that's what I've always wanted, to be able to stand on that podium and hear the national anthem."
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