ESTIMATED READING TIME: 18 Mins.
Right now, the NBA and NHL are nearing the halfway points of their shortened seasons as well as European football as the Champions League's knockout stages kick off shortly, while the year's first Grand Slam tennis tournament is taking place down under in Australia - and today saw the biggest race in NASCAR, the Daytona 500, take place in Florida. Soon, NCAA March Madness will be upon us as college sports' biggest event returns, plus golf hitting its stride in the 2021 portion of its "Super Season," Major League Baseball starting up Spring Training, and a number of other big events - most of which didn't take place during last year's unprecedented sporting shutdown, which allowed MTV's The Challenge and Total Madness to take center stage during the quarantine period.
But on the horizon, the focus will turn to two of the world's most important sporting events, for which one member of the cast of the current season of Double Agents knows so very well. And while the focus was on Tom Brady's Buccaneers facing Patrick Mahomes' Chiefs in Tampa, over in Europe that agent achieved something so big that, had it not been for the GOAT winning his seventh Super Bowl, this would've been THE big sports story of last weekend. And if not for the link it has to what's called the fifth major pro sport, than this would not have made a blip on the radar, which channels the general interest outside of the fortnight of the events that make up the world's most famous five-ring circus.
When the world comes together for what's slated to be the second Olympic Games in the course of six months next February, as the first city to host both of its seasonal iterations, Beijing will welcome back the world's athletes for the 2022 Winter Olympics. In 2008, it was host to one of the most memorable Summer Games ever: Michael Phelps had the defining moment of his career in winning a single Games-record eight golds, while next door Usain Bolt took over the Bird's Nest sprinting to the first of his eight career golds on the track. And the Chinese hosts began the Games with a stirring Opening Ceremony, followed by them winning the most gold medals in what was their nation's coming out party.
As the one sport that stands out the most in the Olympic stratosphere, Track & Field has historically been a strongpoint for American success at any Summer Games. But in 2008, they had to stop and stare in awe of the dominance of the Jamaican sprinters who won all four golds in the men's and women's 100 and 200 meters, plus both 4x100m relays - the ladder two and Bolt's sprints being established in world records. And in one of the handful of events where Team USA did win gold in the Nest, it was what happened with one of those who didn't stand on either of the three steps of the podium that was more remembered than those who stood there with gold, silver and bronze medals around their necks.
In the women's 100-meter hurdles, Jones came in as the favorite after winning the first of two straight golds at the World Indoors earlier that year and placing first in the national Olympic Trials. She was on her way to winning that gold medal leading from the gun, but clipping the penultimate hurdle and stumbling in the last 20 meters saw her on the outside looking in as Dawn Harper stole her golden moment. Australian Sally McLellan and Canada's Priscilla Lopes-Schliep joined Harper on the victory stand as Lolo was left in tears and in utter disbelief as she finished in 7th.
In a career that began in high school in Des Moines, Iowa, continued down in Baton Rouge with a decorated track career at LSU, and has seen her crisscross the globe competing at world and national events, it's that haunting memory of her losing that gold that was in her grasp in Beijing that has remained with Lolo ever since. And it is what happened that night in China that has fueled her the rest of her career that has seen her continue on in the sport known outside the U.S. as athletics, but has seen her follow in the footsteps of many others to the Olympics' cooler cousins of the Winter Games.
The two sports Lolo specializes in emphasize speed: in track the fastest sprinters in the world race 100 meters at 20 mph at ten seconds or less. But even that would be trumped by what is achieved in the sliding sports: both luge and its face-first counterpart, skeleton, are the fastest of any of the Olympic sports with speeds approaching and exceeding 80 miles per hour. The sport of Bobsleigh is just as fast: top speeds approach upwards of 90 MPH, and the designs of modern-day sleds has even garnered the attention of those who design competitive racecars. It's a far cry from the first sleds that were built in the 1870's in the town with the only naturally-built course on the World Cup: St. Moritz, Switzerland.
With the sole exception of 1960 in Lake Tahoe, Bobsled has been contested at every Winter Olympics since 1924, and has traditionally been dominated by European nations. But with the Games' global reach in recent years those from North America and Asia have joined them on the podium; it's most especially been the case on the women's side where the discipline joined the Olympic program in Salt Lake City in 2002. There, converted long jumper Vonetta Flowers made history when she became the first Black athlete to win a Winter Games gold medal when she served as brakeman to driver Jill Bakken.
This sport perhaps had its most famous exposure in pop culture when it served as the basis for the '90s Disney movie Cool Runnings, which documented the 1988 Jamaican foursome who competed in Calgary against all odds in John Candy's last onscreen role. It provided inspiration to those who wanted to take up this dangerous sport, from Flowers to former NFL running back Herschel Walker, to what Lolo got to do when she decided to try another chance at the Olympics in a most unusual manner... and it began almost immediately after she finished 4th and off the podium at the London 2012 Games.
But in just her second start on the ice, Jones would find herself on top of the podium at the 2013 Bobsled World Championships in the non-Olympic event of the mixed team event combining two-man bobsled and skeleton, followed by two more podium finishes before the Sochi Olympics. But when it came time for the national team to be selected to go to Russia, USA Bobsled was put in a precarious spot of whether to go for experience in 2010 Olympian & converted track athlete Emily Azevedo, or for the exposure, publicity and marketer's dream by picking Lolo to be Meyers' brakeman on her third sled. Despite a publicized incident of her getting into a fight with the daughter of a USA bobsled coach, they opted for the ladder, which garnered some criticism from fellow sliders and forced the national governing body to defend its choice.
In the end, it did not yield any results and Meyers & Jones finished back in the pack in 11th place in Russia; and she dropped out of the trials for Rio 2016 two years later. Nonetheless, Jones has continued to plow forward in her quest to gain respect as a bobsledder, but five more podium finishes in the ramp-up to the last Winter Olympics in South Korea wasn't enough to be chosen to go and join fellow Champs vs. Pros alum Gus Kenworthy in Pyeongchang. But in this time after competing on Double Agents - which took place in between what would've been after the planned dates of the postponed Tokyo Games and the start of the winter sports season, she returned to the sliding track as she now goes for one more shot at gold in Beijing. And there is a story involving the woman she is now teammates with...
Eleven years ago this weekend, the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Winter Games began on a sad note after the sudden death of Georgian luge athlete Nodar Kumaritashvili, who lost his life in a training accident hours before the Opening Ceremony. Coming into its third time hosting the world, Canada had the enigma of being the only host nation to never win a gold medal at a home Olympics, having been shut out of hearing their own national anthem on a medal podium in Montreal in 1976 and Calgary in 1988.
But thanks to a push by the Canadian Olympic Committee's "Own the Podium" initiative, it would win not only that elusive gold in freestyle skier Alexander Bilodeau (who won the men's moguls on Valentine's Day night), but thirteen more headlined by both hockey golds and Sidney Crosby's golden goal. Other golds were claimed by ice dancers Tessa Virtue & Scott Moir, by Team Canada's curlers, in long- and short-track speed skating, and in Whistler in snowboarding, freestyle skiing and in the sliding sports. And it was in that resort town that Jon Montgomery etched his name in Canadian lore winning skeleton gold and then famously sipping a pitcher of beer as part of the victory celebration.
The women's bobsleigh competition took place during Week 2 of the Olympic fortnight, and where the objective is simple: achieve the lowest-cumulative time over four total runs of the demanding Whistler Sliding Center course, and you win the gold medal. Meyers helped set the course record at the previous year's test event and was a brakeman herself to driver Erin Pac, as the leading American sled finished with the bronze in the night's penultimate run, falling short of the leading time set by Canada 2 and the duo of Helen Upperton & Shelley-Ann Brown. That assured Canada of a gold medal finish as the last sled piloted by Humphries & teammate Heather Moyse led after three track record runs, and came away with the crown with the top time of 3:32.28, along with a 1-2 finish for the hosts.
Humphries would then add a world championship gold, a season-long World Cup title and a run of nearly twenty straight podiums on the Cup circuit in between Vancouver and Sochi as she assumed the title of the most dominant women's driver in bobsleigh. It set up a duel between her & Moyse and American Meyers & converted track athlete Lauryn Williams at the Games, where the Americans led after Day 1. But mistakes by the USA sled opened the door for the Canadians, where they ran their third & final runs cleanly to take back-to-back gold: the first women's team to defend an Olympic title. And Kelllie followed that up with more history: she would compete with and against men in the 4-man sled at both the regional and World Cup levels.
But after her bid for a third straight Olympic gold fell short in Korea with a bronze, Humphries turned her attention to becoming a whistleblower: she filed complaints of harassment and verbal abuse by top officials and coaches at her sport's Canadian governing body, similar to what befell the American gymnastics program. The petition was done to in part to free her from the national program as, unlike professional sports teams, athletes are not tied contractually to their teams in Olympic sports, but such a choice is required by the sport's international federation, the IBSF, in order for a slider to compete with the national team of another nation - for which a similar scenario played out recently with Kenworthy swapping his national allegiance from the U.S. to his actual birthplace of Great Britain in slopestyle.
After a months-long investigation and the accompanying legal circus, Humphries finally got exactly what she wanted: a release from the Canadian program and becoming a free agent, eventually choosing to compete for the United States. But after getting married to a former U.S. bobsledder who never got to represent his country at international level, she will have to become an American citizen in the coming months in order to compete at the Winter Games in Beijing.
As the world unraveled last spring, Jones had eyes on focusing on the hurdles and one more chance at gold in Tokyo, and she hadn't thought about the other track she's competed on until Kelllie slid into her Instagram DM's about possibly thinking of giving bobsleigh one more shot. The Double Agent spent most of this World Cup season on the sidelines as an alternate, but she then got a shot to compete at the last World Cup stop in Igls, Austria. And in that week before Worlds where she was teamed with the legend, Humphries & Jones rallied from a slightly slow first run to have the top time in the second to take the win - the driver's twenty-sixth in her career, and just the ninth for the ladder.
Jones told the press afterwards, "It's nice to have this victory. Everyone on this team did a great job, and it's nice to see the U.S. finish as the top two sleds." And added Humphries - who is also competing in the newly-added monobob event (where drivers also double as brakemen in this singles version of what's otherwise a team sport), "I am super proud of Lolo and this entire team. Today just shows that the U.S. women’s team is really strong, and we're only going to get stronger heading into the Olympic year."
Kalllie had not just two Olympic golds, but also three world titles... and Lolo has only three World Championships golds: the sprint hurdles in indoor track before & after her Beijing collapse, plus the 2013 mixed gender team event - both non-Olympic events. But having the experience of a champion and the desire of one who wants one more shot at redemption just clicked, along with a new sled they received: after the first two runs on day 1 Humphries & Jones were .34 seconds ahead of sleds from bobsled powerhouse Germany competing on their own ice, and this kind of margin in a sliding sport almost feels like a double-digit halftime lead in an NFL game.
And on day 2, Kalllie & Lolo began their third run with a decent start time en route to the third fastest heat of the early round, all while the hurdler had to deal with pain to her lower back from the previous day's runs. Despite the absence of fans on-site, they were then challenged by the host nation with Kim Kalicki & Ann-Christin Strack posting the fastest third run to cut into the Americans' lead as snow fell in this town located on the German/Czech Republic border. But having the luxury of having to go out last knowing what to do, the Humphries/Jones sled took advantage of having that spot, as well as their combined experience to have the fastest heat of the final round (:57.87), and not only held onto their lead but also add a hundredth to their day 1 margin to take gold with a cumulative time of 3:48.26.
Lolo stated afterwards, "I didn't think I would be emotional. I don't know if the snow was hitting me at the braking stretch or if I was crying, but I think I was crying. I'm the first hurdler to win back-to-back golds in indoor, so I know the pressure that Kaillie was under. I credit Kaillie for being the vet she is, holding it together, staying composed, and executing. She just really killed it." And Humphries added in becoming the leading world champ in women's bobsled with her fourth title, "It's such a huge relief. This was a giant team effort. To be able to cross the finish line and see that number one and know everything worked according to plan is the biggest relief ever. There's a huge wave of happiness and elation that comes over you. It's super cool to share this with Lolo and with Team USA."
COURTESY: NBC SPORTS GROUP/IBSF
And the comments she's gotten in her Instagram posts below span both the sports and reality TV worlds: Demi Lovato, Chilli from TLC, NFL'er Donte Stallworth, WWE wrestler Eva Marie, UFC fighter Tatiana Suarez and actor Josh Henderson were among those outside of the Olympic ecosystem, in addition to those who competed with her at her three Olympics in decathlon gold medalist Bryan Clay, former 100m sprinter Tyson Gay, swimmer Cullen Jones (who swam in the epic 400m free relay) and Meyers herself. And of course, everyone from Challenge Nation also chimed in, too.
● @kcsince1987: LETS FCKIN GOOOOOOO!!!!! Congratulations champ! 🔥🔥🔥🔥
● @mtvashleybrooke: Wooooooo🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼🙌🏼
● @paulcalafiore_: Badass Lolo!
● @fessyfitness: LET THEM KNOW LOLO 🗣‼️
● @natalieeand: So amazing. Letttsss gooo!
● @_nelsonthomas: Congrats‼️‼️‼️💯🔥💯🔥✊🏾
● @nanycarmen: Proud of you Lo
● @gabbydawnallen: Wow!! ❤️❤️❤️
● @josh_martinez_: 👏🏽👏🏽
● @corywharton_ig: 👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽👏🏽
● @ddlovato Demi Lovato: YESSS LOLO!!!!
● @elanameyerstaylor Elena Meyers Taylor/finished 3rd in world champ.: Congrats!
● @cullenjones Cullen Jones/swimmer: Ignore it all... great job Lolo!! #TeamUSA
● @joshhenderson Josh Henderson: SOOOOOOOOO much congrats!!! 🔥🙌🏾🙏🏽🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾
● @brittanybowe Brittany Bowe/speed skater: 🙏🏼👊🏼🙌🏼
● @af67 Ashley Fiolek/BMX rider: You are the boss!!
● @dpaynetv David Payne/Olympic hurdler: How awesome to see you go to another sport and do amazing in that as well! Congrats Lo 🎊🍾 🙌🏾💪🏾💪🏾
● @emmacoburn Emma Coburn/Olympic long-distance runner: Woohoo congrats!!
● @bryanclay Bryan Clay/2008 decathlon gold medalist: Congrats!!!
● @eddyalvarez90 Eddy Alvarez/Olympian & Miami Marlins player: 🙌🏽🙌🏽🙌🏽🔥🔥🔥🔥
● @karagoucher Kara Goucher/Olympic marathoner: So amazing. Congratulations!!❤️
● @donald_driver80 Donald Driver/NFL wide receiver: Congratulations sis
● @dontestallworth Donte Stallworth/NFL wide receiver: CONGRATS!! 🙏🏿🙌🏿
● @antoniosabatojr Antonio Sabato, Jr: Congrats CHAMP 💪☝️
● @tysonlgay Tyson Gay/American sprinter & former WR holder: Jones 💪🏾
● @therealchilli Chilli/TLC: 👏🏽🙌🏽👏🏽🙌🏽
● @tatianasuarezufc Tatiana Suarez/UFC fighter: You’re such an inspiration💕
● @brehannadaniels Brehanna Daniels/NBC's The Titan Games: Let’s get it Lo!!!!!!!!🙏🏾🔥🔥🔥
● @natbynature Natalie K. Neidhart/WWE's Total Divas: Amen!
● @priscilla_frederick Priscilla Loomis/Olympic hopeful: Congrats Queens!!!! So freaking proud of you!!!❤️❤️🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾💯💯💯
With track trials still to come, it remains to be seen if there's time for Lolo to try and achieve a seemingly tall task of competing at back-to-back Olympics in hurdles in the summer and bobsled in the winter, given the much shorter 6-month timeframe than first planned when Tokyo and Beijing were awarded their Games a decade ago. But as she received this unexpected second shot on the bobsled track, Lolo expressed before the season began, "Nothing would mean more to me than to face my fears of 12 years of being ridiculed for not getting an Olympic medal, to going back to the same place where everybody said I blew it, everybody called me a failure all these years, and being successful."
Jones is already one of over 160 total athletes and ten Americans who have competed at both the Summer and Winter Games since the Modern Olympics began in 1896. But now comes the realistic possibility of one of the ultimate stories of redemption in Olympic history: this world title brings with it the expectations to follow through on being the best in the world at the right time a year from now - along with having the Stars & Stripes on that uniform. Plus, there is that enormous, spine-tingling pressure that is the Olympics, with a much bigger audience watching a bobsled race than they do in the forty-seven months in between its quadrennial exposure at any Winter Games. And a victory alone for Humphries would solidify her as the best women's bobsledder of all time with a third Olympic gold.
It's safe to say that Lolo Jones has had quite a career both in the Olympic world and outside of it: she was once dubbed the "Anna Kournikova of track & field" in reference to her lack of success on the track having only those two indoor world golds to show for it on her record, in addition to her bobsled career and that lone world title. As she noted in her social posts after the world championship win, she has been the subject of ridicule about how, at age 38, she's too old to try and give it one more shot in this high-performance sports world... but that hasn't let her down in keeping on going.
Reality fans know her not only for her now two appearances on The Challenge, but also being the first one out on her season of Dancing with the Stars, and her eventful stay in the similar fishbowl of public scrutiny that is the Big Brother house when she appeared on its 2019 Celebrity spinoff. But some consider the Olympic Games to be "the ultimate reality show" -- a 2-week miniseries taking over the world's attention every two years, starring the world's greatest athletes in pursuit of gold and glory under the public microscope. And word is that Lolo and Gus aren't the only ones with Challenge experience possibly competing next year in Beijing: BB alum Paulie Califiore is also eyeing on joining them there, along with CvS alum Lindsay Jacobellis as she also eyes redemption of her own after a case of showboating cost her a certain snowboard cross gold in Torino.
But for now, Lolo is basking in what is no doubt the biggest moment of her athletic career in winning her first major title in an event that is part of the Olympic program. This could be either the peak of that with one more piece of heartbreak waiting for her, or the start of something big heading towards the ultimate moment of personal satisfaction, tremendous redemption and greater public fame. Everyone loves the story of that underdog or that comeback... Lolo would sure love to cap off that Olympic career with her first-ever Olympic medal -- even gold -- hanging around her neck in the city where it all began and where it would all end fourteen years later.
- I AM DC
#DCBLOG
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