American Medalists Unleash on Lolo Jones Coverage in Awkward Interview
[There was a video here]
As if Lolo Jones wasn't already having a bad enough day after barely missing a medal in the 100-meter hurdles last night — "Stressed.5am no sleep post race," she tweeted — her U.S.A. teammates Dawn Harper and Kellie Wells, both of whom did medal in the race, aren't at all happy with her.
Or at least, they're not happy with The Lolo Jones Story — Hot 29-Year-Old Virgin Who Overcame Hardship and Stumbled in Beijing — overshadowing their own, compelling stories. Stories that, they pointed out to NBCSN's Michelle Beadle, end with actual medals:
Beadle: You thought you weren't getting enough respect ... Why is that?
Harper: I feel I had a pretty good story — knee surgery two months before Olympic trials in 2008, to make the team but 0.007, not have a contract ... working three jobs, living in a frat house, trying to make it work. Coming off running in someone else's shoes getting the gold medal. Uhhh, I'd say I was pretty interesting. I just felt as if I worked really hard to represent my country in the best way possible, and to come way with the gold medal, and to honestly seem as if, because their favorite didn't win all of sudden it's just like, 'Were going to push your story aside, and still gonna push this one.' That hurt. It did. It hurt my feelings. But I feel as if I showed I can deal with the pressure, I came back, and I think you kinda got to respect it a little bit now.
Beadle [to Harper and Kellie Wells]: You guys kinda hang out together ... Is there fighting amongst the team — we're talking about Lolo Jones if you can't figure this out — is there an awkward situation or now that it's over we've all just moved on?
Wells: Well, I think that, on the podium tonight, the three girls that earned their spot and they got their medals and they worked hard and did what they needed to do, prevailed. And that's all that really needs to be said.
Beadle: Wow.
Harper: BOOM! Just like that.
Beadle: You can cut the tension in here with a knife.
It's gotta be hard to work your ass off, receive a medal, and have the coverage focus on the woman you beat. Wells, at least, seems to be focusing her frustration at the media and not at Jones herself — the question is, how much is Lolo Jones responsible for the media machine that surrounds her?