Three-time Olympian Lolo Jones says Team USA 'abandoned' her after harrowing spinal injury

Lolo Jones is not backing down aft a harrowing acquisition with Team USA.

In February 2025, Jones climbed into a team-issued bobsled astatine the Olympic grooming analyzable successful Lake Placid, New York. The U.S. squad was investigating instrumentality earlier the World Championships. The sled accelerated down the crystal astatine speeds approaching 90 mph.

At the bottommost of the track, Jones knew thing was wrong.

Her little backmost burned. She could not crook over. She had mislaid power of her bladder.

"I’ve ne'er had that hap to maine ever successful (my) life," Jones said. "I instantly went up to the diversion trainer and told him what was happening."

Jones was nary inexperienced jock struggling to work her body. She competed astatine the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics arsenic a hurdler and the 2014 Winter Olympics arsenic a bobsled brakewoman. She had won satellite championships successful some sports.

She understood pain. This felt different.

Lolo Jones of Team United States poses for a representation during the Team USA Beijing 2022 Olympic sprout connected Sept. 12, 2021, successful Irvine, Calif. (Getty Images for Team USA)

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A trainer arranged a attraction for her, but Jones says the caput of sports medicine astatine the Lake Placid grooming halfway canceled it due to the fact that she had already received attraction that week.

Jones arrived for the assignment without knowing it had been canceled.

She was hurt, frightened and days distant from the biggest contention of the season. 

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Lolo Jones of the United States looks connected aft competing successful the Women’s 60m Hurdles during the New Balance Indoor Grand Prix connected February 04, 2023 successful Boston, Massachusetts. (Photo by Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Then Jones received announcement that officials had revoked her entree to sports medicine, she says, and a broader prohibition aboriginal kept her retired of the Olympic grooming facility, including its rehabilitation areas, value room, lodging and propulsion track.

The announcement said her behaviour violated the facility’s codification of conduct, she says, but Jones claims officials ne'er identified the circumstantial regularisation she broke oregon gave her a ceremonial proceeding earlier imposing the punishment.

According to reporting by the Southern California News Group, Jones and different radical acquainted with the lawsuit said USOPC officials aboriginal acknowledged that the approved attraction should not person been canceled. Jones apologized during a gathering earlier the World Championships.

The restrictions remained.

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"I voiced my vexation that athletes should person aesculapian access," Jones said. "It conscionable continued to escalate."

The symptoms Jones described demanded much than a regular massage.

Severe backmost symptom combined with bladder dysfunction tin awesome compression of the nerves astatine the basal of the spinal cord. 

The American Association of Neurological Surgeons lists urinary incontinence, limb weakness and terrible lower-back symptom among the informing signs of cauda equina syndrome, a aesculapian exigency that tin origin imperishable paralysis oregon nonaccomplishment of bladder control.

Jones says nary 1 astatine the halfway examined her, ordered imaging oregon explained the imaginable severity of her injury.

Without a diagnosis, she made the determination elite athletes often make. She kept going.

Jones obtained symptom medicine from her doc successful Louisiana and returned to the sled for the World Championships successful Lake Placid. She completed 4 runs with aviator Elana Meyers Taylor. They finished sixth.

"If idiosyncratic would’ve told me, ‘Your spinal fluid is leaking retired of your back. If that aviator hits a wall, you volition beryllium paralyzed,’ determination is nary mode I would’ve gotten backmost successful that bobsled," Jones said.

After the championships, Jones paid for her ain MRI. She says the imaging revealed a herniated disc, different disc bulge, respective lumbar tears and a cerebrospinal-fluid leak. She aboriginal underwent spinal surgery.

She besides paid for rehabilitation, question and backstage aesculapian assistance portion she remained barred from the grooming center. She estimates the wounded and its aftermath outgo her astir $100,000.

For Jones, the outgo exposes a larger imbalance wrong Olympic sports.

Lolo Jones reacts aft competing successful the archetypal circular of the women's 100 metre hurdles connected Day Eight of the 2024 U.S. Olympic Team Track & Field Trials astatine Hayward Field connected June 28, 2024 successful Eugene, Oregon. (Patrick Smith/Getty Images)

Many bobsled athletes past connected humble stipends portion absorbing important grooming and question expenses. Jones had income from enactment extracurricular the sport, but she says the bills inactive devastated her finances.

"I marque bully money, but I’m not making Michael Phelps money," she said.

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Jones present argues that Olympic athletes request stronger due-process protections and an affordable mode to situation the institutions that power their aesculapian care, backing and competitory futures. She says the existent grievance strategy costs excessively overmuch and gives athletes small realistic powerfulness against governing bodies.

The acquisition has besides changed however she views the Olympics themselves.

Elana Taylor Meyers and Lolo Jones of the United States vie during vigor 1 of the two-woman bobsleigh astatine the 2025 IBSF World Championships astatine Mt Van Hoevenberg successful Lake Placid, N.Y., connected March 14, 2025. (Maddie Meyer/Getty Images)

Jones erstwhile imagined that a aboriginal girl mightiness travel her into elite sports. She nary longer sees that anticipation arsenic a dream.

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"I volition not fto my girl beryllium an Olympic athlete," she said. "She volition not beryllium treated similar this."

For much than 20 years, Jones pushed her assemblage for Team USA. She raced done injuries, changed sports and represented the state successful some the Summer and Winter Games.

When her assemblage yet forced her to inquire for help, she says the strategy treated her symptom arsenic a disciplinary problem.

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"I’ve fixed truthful overmuch to Team USA and represented this state arsenic champion I can," Jones said. "And erstwhile I needed Team USA back, they perfectly abandoned me."