Obstacle vs. Opportunity

During the course of her interview on The Wendy Williams Show, with Wendy Williams, Lolo Jones explains how she uses her past failures as motivation to achieve her dreams. Through everything she has been through, Lolo never quit. She never took the easy way out and always kept her eye on her dream. Her story is “not complete.” (qtd. in Rashaad Jorden) and in this interview it is clear that she is continuing to focus on the opportunities in front of her. Lolo Jones is not just an inspiration to track athletes; she is a role model to different types of athlete and non-athletes. Many people with various backgrounds, can relate to her and use her as an example in their own lives. As a professional athlete, Lolo also uses her sponsors as way to give back to many communities and charities that she is involved with. Despite encountering obstacles many times in her career and experiencing failures, Lolo Jones has never given up the pursuit of her dreams. She continues to be an inspiration to many athletes and people around the world as she has for the last decade. Lolo Jones faced a great deal of adversity to get to where she is now. According to Lolo, she grew up in Iowa and had very little money or material possessions. Her father was in and out of jail; her mother raised Lolo along with her four siblings as a single parent. Eventually Lolo was discovered in high school and worked herself to a full-ride scholarship at LSU where she won a national championship in the 60-meter hurdles. (Jones). One of her first career obstacles came in 2004, Lolo failed to qualify for the Summer Olympics. She never gave up her training; she then qualified for the 2008 Olympics in Beijing where she was favored to win. In the finals, Lolo tripped over the 8th hurdle (out of 10) and lost the gold medal in the blink of an eye. In her interview Lolo