Lolo Jones is an Olympic athlete that is skilled enough to be a track star and a bobsledder, but multiple times she has rankled fans and fellow athletes over her career and she did it again this week, as she made a crack about the paycheck she makes for working on the US Bobsled team.
According to ESPN.com, Jones tweeted out a video from the app Vine that showed her paycheck of $741.84 for her training and she joked under it that she would have some trouble paying her rent. The video was not well received by her teammates, as Jones has numerous endorsement deals from her work in other sports and many saw it as a swipe at the team and other athletes.
One person in gold medalist Steven Holcomb was not amused, saying that people were insulted, as over $700 is more than many athletes in the sport make, so she shouldn't complain. She came out an apologized and that is just another common move for her, as she had to do the same during the Olympics when she tweeted about guns and she has had other issues with social media in the past.
Jones has never won a gold medal and many think she is popular and well known for her looks as well as the fact that she publicized that she is a virgin, like Tim Tebow. She tried to make an apology but even that sounded a little off, as she said that it was showing the difference between her two sports, as she "couldn't imagine" having to raise money in the middle of training. Jones has won three medals with the team and said that she hopes to compete in the Olympics in Russia as well.
Jones is a summer Olympian first and she finished fourth in the 100 meter hurdles in London and many dished some criticism at her for all the attention she has received without the medal results. She was a favorite in China for the Olympics and ended up finishing seventh. Most of the time she makes the controversy for herself, just as she did when she made a harsh tweet at paralyzed Rutgers player Eric LeGrand last year.
"I can't imagine halfway through my track season having to stop and raise money to finish. The vine of the paycheck is just showing the difference between track and bobsled, and to be honest bobsledders work more hours than track! The bottom line is that all Olympic athletes dedicate their lives to their sports and do not receive lucrative paychecks like athletes in mainstream professional sports. So hopefully this will make people appreciate just how hard Olympians work, often just for the love of the sport."
"It wasn't taken very well," Holcomb said. "People were really kind of insulted. You just made $741, more than most athletes in the sport. So what are you complaining about?"
Jones grew up in Des Moines, Iowa, and ran track at LSU, where she won multiple national championships in the 4x100-meters. She has won numerous national titles, including in 2007, 2008 and 2009 in the 60 m hurdles. She is also the American record holder in the 60m hurdles. Jones has been criticized in the past for getting massive media attention but not performing at the highest level. She previously said about being a virgin: "(it's) the hardest thing I've ever done in my life-harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage."
CLICK here to see the Vine video.
I'm going to be short on my rent this month... https://t.co/dae79siq03
— Lolo Jones (@lolojones) June 17, 2013
