It’s not unusual for athletes to excel in one sport and then transfer their energies to either learn another sport or diversify themselves within the originating sport. After becoming the name in basketball, Michael Jordan moved onto baseball for a period of time. Michael Phelps competed in multiple swimming competitions.
So, the recent career switch for the talented Lolo Jones should come as no surprise. Lolo Jones has already competed in the Olympics through the track and field competition where she participated as a 100-meter hurdler in track. She is now competing in the bobsled sport. Her diet has been adjusted to consume 9,000 calories a day in order to gain thirty pounds.
Lolo Jones understands the need to muscle and as an Olympic hopeful in the bobsled arena. “You’re with the bobsled at the truck and inhaling the smoke fumes from the exhaust pipe, just holding on. It’s a very blue-collar sport. It takes a tough person,” Lolo said.
Lolo’s past athletic record and prowess has not gone unnoticed. “Transitioning to bobsled, having her speed and power, and also that experience as an elite athlete … she’s at the top of her game in her respective sport. So I think she brought a lot of knowledge and maturity that way and was super open to bobsled,” Jazmine Fenlator said.
Bobsledding is a unique sport, which usually is not at the forethought of an aspiring athlete’s mind. Most bobsledding athletes have been actively involved in other sports. Elana Meyers, who is a U.S. pilot, explained the strength of this tendency where athletes from all different sports can use their knowledge and skills to advance the sport of bobsledding.
“Whenever we bring in new people, we tell them to use their experiences from the previous sport and bring what they already know into our sport. That’s the thing, everybody from our sport comes from a different sport. Nobody grows up bobsledding,” Elana Meyers said.
[Image Via Wikimedia Commons And Courtesy Of Erik van Leeuwen]
