Races Like a Girl

Watching Lolo Jones tumbling over the penultimate hurdle in the 100m hurdle final was the only Olympic moment so far that actually brought me to tears. Sure, there have been some other failures and losses so far, but this was the most spectacular; “the agony of defeat” writ large.

Lolo held up like a trooper in the post-race interview, but lost it right afterwards, sobbing and so terribly alone in a corridor just off the track — a spectacle, which, thanks to NBC’s voyeurism, the entire nation witnessed.

She’s a class act, though, as evidenced by this great video from AP, which shows that she has enough perspective and resilience to avoid equating herself with one really bad race — and is taking it in stride, as it were. Rather than wallow in self pity, to be followed by a downward spiral into post-Olympic maladjustment, you just know she’ll pick herself up, get back to work, and be back for 2012. What a champion.

Go, Lolo!

Filed under: elites, inspiration, olympics |