Hurdler Lolo Jones Blames Media For Her Olympic Failure

Lolo Jones, who had been performing well at the 2012 London Olympics, finished fourth in the women's 100-meter hurdles. According to MSN, during her appearance on "Today," the young star chalked up her failure to the criticism she suffered at the hands of the U. S. media. Jones, a virgin, has also been harassed on Twitter, where she's an active user.

Jones said, on "Today," regarding the media, "They should be supporting our ... athletes and instead they just ripped me to shreds." The hurdler was tearful discussing the criticism, which could, in part, be inspired by this New York Times article, where the basic idea was that Jones places style above substance.

"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 said on "Today." Jones finished 1/10^th of a second behind the bronze medalist the night before she gave the interview to "Today," saying "At least this time it was a clean, smooth race. It's a season's best so I'm pleased, but obviously I'm crushed."

Jones thanked her fans via Twitter, saying "Thx 4 lifting me up during this time." Bleacher Report has speculated on what is next for the 30 year old hurdler, even though the 2016 Olympics in Rio is surely still an option as older athletes performed incredibly well at this year's Olympics, there are other options for the superstar athlete, including continuing her sponsorships with various companies. She's quite photogenic, so, modeling and acting as a kind of brand ambassador is surely and option. The sky's the limit for someone like Lolo Jones, so, it'll be interesting to see how her Olympic results affect her long-term.