Challenge Double Agents Player Preview: Lolo Jones
It’s a bit surreal to see Lolo Jones on the main cast for an actual full-length MTV Challenge season. I started watching the Challenge back in late-2015/early 2016, but I’ve reading articles/seeing pictures of Lolo Jones since 2007. If you are unfamiliar with the website Bleacher Report, it used to be cool. Back then, Lolo Jones would pop in all of these articles and lists. 3 out of every 10 articles would discuss her as a serious athlete as she was favored to win the Gold Medal in the 100 M Hurdles at the 2008 Olympics. The other 7 out of 10 articles would focus on and hype up her beauty/attractiveness and the fact she is publicly a virgin. Lolo is a world-class athlete with such a unique face and look. Her skin is perfect, has piercing eyes, and being a mix of multiple cultures and race gave her such a different look.
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Lolo’s beauty has been a blessing and a curse. It’s been part of why she has gotten so much attention from the media as an athlete and has helped her gain sponsors, allowed her to cross-over into reality television, and develop outside projects. Simultaneously, the same media has been quick to criticize her, saying she’s only gotten her treatment/position from the US Olympic Committee due to her looks and the attention she brings to the sport. Regardless, to me, Lolo Jones is one of the great US athletes of the 2000s, and it’s fucking crazy that she’s on the Challenge now.
Introducing Lolo: As mentioned above, Lolo gained a reputation as a world-class sprinter and was the favorite to win the Gold Medal in the 100 M hurdles at the 2008 Beijing Olympics. She came in first in the semi-finals, dropping a time of 12.43 seconds, only .06 seconds off the Olympic Record. In the final record, she was on pace to win the Gold and then clipped the last hurdles, finishing in 7th. It was a devastating loss. In 2012 for the London Olympics, Lolo wasn’t the favorite but was still a contender for the Gold, with a solid shot at medaling. Sadly, she came up short of a medal, finishing in 4th. Lolo came in 1st Place at the World Championships and was one of the best sprinters in the world; it just never came together at the Olympic stage, which is heart-breaking.
She attempted to get a medal at the 2014 Winter Olympics by becoming a bobsledder. Her speed and strength gave her a natural ability to do well in the sport, and she made the official Olympic squad. Lolo’s inclusion did gain the ire of women left off the squad, and some media members wrote that she only made it because of her beauty and the publicity. However, the coaches and team members came to Lolo’s defense. Unfortunately, Lolo came up short again as they finished 11th Place at the Olympics. Since then, Lolo has switched between the two sports and has gotten put in a challenging position recently with the Olympic situation getting muddled due to COVID.
In terms of reality television, in 2014, Lolo gave her first try at it, competing on Dancing With The Stars. She got eliminated in the first episode. In 2017, she went on Champs vs. Pros, where Lolo had to compete in all three female eliminations, taking out WNBA star Candice Wiggins in Wrecking Wall, Pro Surfer Tia Blanco in Balls In, and Millionaire Ashley Mitchell in a modified version of Spool. Lolo graciously donated money to Ashley’s charity, empathizing with the fact they both had been in every elimination. Lolo got taken out at the end via a purge. She then went on Celebrity Big Brother, where she was part of a major alliance, and finished in 3rd Place! The problem is those shows and a main season of the Challenge are way different. People on the Challenge might want to instigate an issue or fight to get more followers and get attention for “fighting with an Olympian.” It’s something she has to be conscious of. I do think when it comes to the sex and partying part, Lolo has lived in the Olympic Village before, which, if you weren’t aware, is an all-time horny environment. The 2012 Olympics stocked over 150k+ condoms for athletes, and they RAN OUT.
Lolo has her work cut out for her.
Player Vitals
Lori “Lolo” Jones: 38 Years Old, 5'9, 133 lbs*, Olympic Sprinter and Bobsledder
Skills and Physical Strength: At 38 Years Old, Lolo is the oldest rookie in Challenge history, and is the same age as 14 season veteran Aneesa, and only three years younger than the oldest competitor ever, Darrell. As a two-sport athlete, Lolo’s weight fluctuates depending on the sport she is training for. She is generally around 145 lbs for sprinting and in the 160–170 lbs range for bobsled. Knowing she would be on the Challenge, Lolo trimmed down to 133 with the consideration that she will need to be a distance-runner in the final. Someone might have 20 lbs on Lolo, but in terms of strength, the amount of force that can get exerted out of Lolo’s Olympics legs is hard to keep up with. Nobody on this show is the athlete that Lolo is; hell, there are pro athletes who aren’t the athlete that Lolo is.
For us fans, we have to wonder how Lolo will do when it comes to heights, carnival games, and swimming. Most Olympians do swim/work-out in water as a form of training. Lolo also got a taste of the challenges on Champs vs. Pros and did well in most of them from a physical standpoint.
SSMP (Social, Strategic, Mental, and Political) Game: She is known for having a huge voice and an outspoken personality. In the Challenge house, I can already see Lolo butting heads with Natalie, Wes, Devin, Kam, Ashley, Josh, Lio, Nelson, and maybe some wildcards. If Lolo keeps quiet and focused only on competing, she has a free ticket to the final because people will be intimidated by her. Except I don’t see that happening. Lolo is too much of a competitor and a personality to take a backseat, and MTV isn’t paying her to be one either.
God, I think the house element will be the most challenging part of the game for Lolo. If she can deal with that part of the game, she will thrive on this show. No clue if Lolo is a puzzle person. I know that if Lolo gets eliminated or loses a final on a puzzle, she’s going to get clowned on social media. That’s an added incentive to perform her best.
Eliminations & Winning Potential: Every single elimination that Lolo played on Champs vs. Pros, she killed. Lolo teared up the Wrecking Wall with ridiculously speed and power. Her opponent didn’t even make it half-way up the wall by the time she finished. After the first round of Balls In, Tia Blanco essentially quit as she knew she couldn’t keep up with Lolo and didn’t want to risk an injury. Ashley gave her the biggest run for her money in the modified Spool/Knot So Fast, and even then, Lolo still prevailed. I want to see Lolo in some headbangers. At the same time, knowing MTV, they are going to give her a blind stick fight.
Can Lolo win? Yeah, I think we have to somewhat peg the Olympian as one of the favorites. Her obstacles are herself. If she can handle the house elements and be capable with puzzles, I’d maybe put money on her. I think Lolo might be a one-done competitor, so hopefully, she makes the most of the experience.
