BATON ROUGE — After making significant contributions to flood victims in her native state of Iowa this past summer, 2008 Olympian and World Indoor champion Lolo Jones has been named the Visa Humanitarian Athlete of the Year by USA Track & Field.
Jones will be honored Saturday at the Jesse Owens Awards and USATF Hall of Fame Induction Ceremony to be held at the Silver Legacy Resort in Reno, Nev., in conjunction with USA Track & Field’s 2008 Annual Meeting.
After winning the 100-meter hurdles at the 2008 U.S. Olympic Trials in Eugene, Ore., on July 6, Jones gave her $4,000 in prize money to a fund assisting Renee Trout, a single mother from Cedar Rapids who was a victim of the Iowa floods. Jones’ sponsors each matched her donation of $4,000 to bring the total donation for Trout and her family to $12,000.
Jones captured the 100 hurdles at the Olympic Trials with a wind-aided time of 12.29, which ties for the No. 2 time run under any conditions in the history of the sport. She went on to set a wind-legal personal best of 12.43 in the semifinals at the Olympic Games in Beijing.
“I’ve been receiving help from charities and other assistance programs since I was very young so it was only natural for me to give back,” Jones said.
While in Des Moines for the Drake Relays in April, Jones provided each girl on the Theodore Roosevelt High School track team with a pair of brand new spikes and made a $3,000 donation to the school to repair the track and buy hurdles. While competing at Roosevelt as a prep star, Jones set the Iowa state record in the 100 hurdles at 13.40, a mark that stands to this day.
Jones is also active in USA Track & Field’s Win With Integrity program, which seeks to educate youth, parents, coaches and school administrators about the positive results that come from living a physically active and drug-free lifestyle while living with integrity.
“In order to succeed at the world-class level, athletes must be focused on themselves,” said USATF CEO Doug Logan. “Athletes like Lolo Jones demonstrate that that focus does not come at the expense of giving back to your community or to helping people in need. Lolo’s generosity of spirit was accompanied by her financial generosity in assisting flood victims in her home state.
“As a long-standing partner of USA Track & Field, Visa is proud to recognize Lolo Jones for her dedication in helping others,” said Michael Lynch, head of global sponsorship marketing, Visa Inc. “She continues to inspire on and off the track, and we’re proud to recognize her with the Visa Humanitarian of the Year Award.”