No doubt about it, Lolo Jones is pretty hot and draws viewers to whatever sport she decides to compete in.
Well, apparently NBC seems to think so.
But fellow bobsledders are not as thrilled with her selection to compete as a pusher on the women’s bobsled team in Sochi.
Jones, who is set to become the ninth American to compete in both the Summer and Winter Olympics, joins Aja Evans and Lauryn Williams on the team.
The women she beat out, Emily Azevedo and Kate Eberling voiced their opinions about the choice to USA Today Sports.
Implying Jones’ popularity and her standing as a media darling earned her the coveted spot, Azevedo said, “I should have been working harder on gaining Twitter followers than gaining muscle mass.” Jones has more than 375,000 Twitter followers, while Azevedo has just over 2,000.
Eberling agrees with Azevedo’s assessment.
“I feel this year there was a certain agenda,” she said. “It’s no fault of my teammates. There’s been a lot of inconsistencies and that makes you wonder what’s going on. It’s not right.”
Jones was expected to win the gold in the 100-meter hurdles in the Beijing Olympics, but ended up seventh after missing a hurdle. She placed fourth in the London Olympics in 2012.
The 27-year-old Christian has also drawn attention with her declaration that she is a virgin and intends to remain so until marriage.
Several members of the men’s bobsledding team also disagreed with the decision. “It’s hard for me to name one or two athletes that would completely agree with that decision,” said push athlete Curt Tomasevicz.
“We’re returning gold medalists and not getting much PR because all the bobsled attention is on Lolo,” he said. “It brings a lot of attention to the sport which can be a good thing, but I’m not just sure who is benefiting from that attention.”
Image vis Wikimedia
