Lolo Jones Breaks Down During Savannah Guthrie Interview, Says US Media ‘Ripped’ Her To Shreds

Lolo Jones finished a disappointing fourth during Tuesday’s 110m hurdles at the 2012 London Olympics, and, following that race, she has begun to open up about the days leading up to the race and the disrespect she believes was thrust upon her by American media.

Speaking on the Today Show, Lolo Jones told Savannah Guthrie of the attacks:

“I think it was crazy just because it was two days before I competed, and then the fact that it was from a U.S. media.”

As she fought back tears Jones added:

“They should be supporting our U.S. Olympic athletes and instead they just ripped me to shreds. I just thought that that was crazy because I worked six days a week, every day, for four years for a 12-second race and the fact that they just tore me apart, which is heartbreaking.

Jones was specifically referring to a New York Times article in which she was compared to tennis’ sexy girl Anna Kournikova.

Lashing out at The Times she rightfully added:

“They didn’t even do their research, calling me the Anna Kournikova of track. I have the American record. I am the American record holder indoors, I have two world indoor titles. Just because I don’t boast about these things, I don’t think I should be ripped apart by media. I laid it out there, fought hard for my country and it’s just a shame that I have to deal with so much backlash when I’m already so brokenhearted as it is.”

On the one hand, the NYT article did downplay Lolo Jones’ accomplishments; on the other hand, regardless of Olympic competition, it was not the newspapers job to hold up an American flag and shout at the hilltops for Lolo as she competed for Olympic gold in London.

Here’s the full Lolo Jones interview with Savannah Guthrie: