A few hours earlier, she hadn't known if she'd make it to the start because of a battered hamstring, and now she wasn't sure she'd make it to the finish line.
So after finishing the race, she was asked how she managed to clear 10 hurdles on Friday: Was it sheer will or adrenaline?
“Toradol,” Jones said, “is the official sponsor of the 41-year-old.”
A familiar yet surprising athlete emerged at the U.S. Trials on Friday. Jones made her Trials debut 20 years ago in Sacramento, competing alongside Gail Devers, who competed in her first Olympic Games in 1988. “I'm about that age,” said Jones, who has competed in two Summer Olympics and one Winter Olympics and came close to winning gold in the 100m hurdles at the 2008 Games before hitting a hurdle and falling while leading late in the race.
Though she never won an Olympic medal, Jones has become one of the most notable Olympians of the past two decades, garnering fame through her talent, looks, an early understanding of social media and the novelty of competing in both the Winter and Summer Olympics.
And Jones is still competing. During past Olympics, Jones said he felt “pushed away” by USA Bobsled officials because of his age. Wanting to stay competitive, Jones returned to hurdling. At a track meet in Gainesville, Florida in April, Jones ran the 100m hurdles in 13.11 seconds, comfortably under the qualifying mark of 13.25 seconds.
Jones' time suggested the qualifying round would be just an exhibition, but she wanted to compete anyway to give hope to younger athletes who might be devastated if they don't make the Olympics.
“I want to show my kids that you can be good enough to qualify for the Olympic Games in your 40s,” Jones said. “And hopefully someone else follows in my footsteps and excels in their 40s. Sports science is improving. Tom Brady didn't retire until he was 45. I hope my kids look at me and think, 'Hey, if I don't make the Olympic team, my world isn't going to end.' That's what longevity is all about.”
But on the way to the heats, Jones suffered a setback when he suffered a Grade 2 torn hamstring six weeks ago. “It's just a new injury,” Jones said. “It's not an age-related injury. It's a normal injury for a hurdler.”
Jones was not able to practice on the track. Her first attempt at hurdles since her injury was last Saturday, when she jumped six hurdles before cramping her hamstring and falling behind again. She waited until Thursday to try again, jumping one hurdle before crying in pain.
When she woke up on Friday, she wasn't sure if she'd be able to compete. She called two of her old bobsled teammates. “I thought, 'If I'm given the choice right now to fall on the scariest bobsled course or to compete in the Olympic Trials, I'd rather be in a bobsled going 90 miles per hour and fall,'” Jones said. “That's how scared I was when I got on the starting line. I had no idea if I was going to tear my hamstring.”
Jones still wanted to run, she still wanted to prove she could run, and she had modern medicine at her disposal: pain-relieving injections. As she reached the block, her name was announced, and Hayward Field erupted in cheers.
“I'm so grateful for all the support,” Jones said. “I felt forgotten for so long, and it means the world to me that you all remembered my name and yelled it out because I was terrified when I stood on the starting line. I was crying this morning thinking I had to withdraw from the race. To be able to stand on the starting line and go through all 10 hurdles was a big victory for me.”
Jones finished in 14.86 seconds, well ahead of the next-to-last qualifier. “I don't want people to think that someone in their 40s can do this,” Jones said. “Before I got injured, I was on pace to run in the 12s.”
Jones can still race again, if her hamstring allows. In the opening round, all 27 hurdler competitors advanced, thanks to multiple withdrawals and an expanded qualifying system. Nia Ali, the Tokyo Olympic silver medalist, opted for an energy-saving strategy with a strange aesthetic: she trotted off the starting block, sprinted through the hurdles and finished in 20.38 seconds.
Jones sees his career as a series of setbacks and overcoming them. Not making the Olympic team in 2004 helped him make the national team in 2008. Stumbling in the hurdles in 2008 inspired him to finish fourth in 2012 despite an injury. Failing to medal inspired him to try bobsledding and become an unparalleled two-time Olympian.
“When you have a setback, when you lose, when something tries to knock you down, use that as motivation,” Jones said. “That's why I'm a hurdler. I like to get through things.”
“I'm still in this fight. You're all acting like I'm not going to make it to the semi-finals, but I did. I know 14 seconds isn't that great of a time, but we're still in the fight. When I wake up and don't need my wand anymore, we'll be fighting.”
