As the U.S. Olympic trials in Eugene, Oregon, kicked off earlier this month, many track and field stars in both men's and women's competitions were searching for their first trip to the Games.
On the other hand, many others already knew what it felt like to represent the United States in the Games, including Lolo Jones, who was already making history by just qualifying for the trials at 41 years old.
Jones, a two-time Olympian as a hurdler and member of the U.S. bobsled team in the 2014 Winter Olympics, knows all about giving it all for her country. It is one of the reasons why she fought through physical and emotional adversity to just make it to Eugene this year.
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"I don’t even know how to describe it in words because it’s just such an emotion to make an Olympic team, and you’re representing an entire country back home that’s going to be watching you, cheering for you, and you represent them," Jones told Fox News Digital while also discussing why her partnership with Purina is so important to her. "Your efforts represent a nation, and it’s just an emotion inside your heart and your chest that makes you want to give it your best. Because it’s such a huge honor."
Jones battled a hamstring injury while at the trials, to the point where she said she was not even sure her cleats would touch the track when she was set for the 100-meter hurdles.
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She was able to run the race, and though 14.86 was the final time in the prelims, Jones was ecstatic she was able to get through all 10 hurdles without messing up drastically.
Even before running the race, Jones, at 41, became the oldest 100-meter hurdler to qualify for the Olympic trials.
Her time, though, meant she would not be representing the U.S. in the hurdles during the Paris Games. Instead, that honor goes to Masai Russell, Alaysha Johnson and Grace Stark – all of whom will be competing in their first Olympics.
Jones knows the speechless feeling of wearing that USA across their chest will hit home the second they touch the track in Paris.
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Jones explained what she has heard from other Olympians in the past when they described what it was like.
"I’ve never been engaged or married, but I will tell you when I talk to other Olympians who have been, they say the happiest days of their life are when they got married and when they made any Olympic team and knowing they would represent their country," Jones said. "That’s crazy to me – how much responsibility we take in representing people."
While Jones' peers will be heading overseas, she continues to take things on a month-to-month basis with her own career. Jones has been told to retire more times than she can count, including the moment she finished her semifinals heat at the trials this year.
She did say, "absolutely not," when asked about competing in the 2028 Los Angeles Summer Games, but she left the door open for bobsledding, which would be featured in the 2026 Winter Games in Milan.
The drive to continue competing comes from within – as Jones put it, she loves a challenge ever since middle school when no one else wanted to do hurdles and she stepped up – but it also has to do with representing the Stars and Stripes.
Jones may not be hurdling in Paris, but she is remaining active at home with the bundle of energy and joy she calls Loki, her dog who was featured in Purina Pro Plan Sport's "Fueled By" docuseries, which showcases how he is her training partner off the track.
In fact, when Jones returned home from the trials, she was not in a great mental state after seeing the reactions to her times in her races. Loki is much more than a training partner – he is a true companion.
"I thought it was amazing to see how he could just pick up on how depressed I was," Jones explained. "I was really struggling to process the emotions of this. I was getting pressed to retire, and he’s always wanting to go outside. I think he could just tell, and instead he was curling up with me in bed. Laying on me, and he was being more affectionate, and it was like, ‘Wow, I think he can tell what I’m going through.’ For me, that was a lot."
Having a companion like Loki is why Jones is passionate about what Purina Pro Plan is doing for animals. For every view of the docuseries, Purina Pro Plan will donate $1 (up to $150,000) to Athletes for Animals, a non-profit organization that focuses on protecting homeless pets.
As Jones cheers on Team USA in this year's Olympics, Loki will be right by her side doing the same.
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