An American Olympian has come out to explain how revealing she was a virgin destroyed her dating prospects.
40-year-old hurdler Lolo Jones is perhaps one of the most successful in the whole history of US athletics, with numerous gold medals under her belt.
After deciding on a change of sport, Jones decided to switch to a new challenge, to join the country’s bobsleigh team, which ended in an amazing gold victory at the World Championships.
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In her career, she is now one of the few athletes to excel at both the summer and winter games.
Though, due to her commitment to her work and religion, her dating life took a serious fall with Jones adamant on sex after marriage.
The sprinter revealed that she was still a virgin in a 2021 tweet and later explained her situation in an interview with HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel.
When talking about her choice to remain abstinent, Jones said it’s the 'hardest thing' she'd done.
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"It’s just something, a gift I want to give to my husband," she said. "But please understand, this journey has been hard.
"There’s virgins out there, I’m gonna let them know, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
"Harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage."
Jones later expressed that she believed opening up about being a virgin was a 'mistake', as it took a negative toll on her love life.
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When speaking to Kevin Hart on his Cold as Balls podcast, she said: "That was a mistake. That killed all my dates after that — like didn’t even have a chance. Like before, at least I had a chance.
"Before, I’d like, tiptoe, 'Okay, when's a good time to tell him? Do I wait until he sees my personality a little bit? Or do I just drop the bomb?'"
Not only did it turn her dating life upside down, but it also impacted her career.
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Jones explained: "I have a higher level of intensity because I don't have any pressure release. Everybody knows me as stressed out.
"Having sex actually helps you as an athlete, a female athlete. It's good for your hormones. So I’m running at a disadvantage."
Due to her age and fearing that she would run out of time to become a mother, Jones began the process of freezing her eggs after being told she had a 'great egg reserve for her age'.
Even though she has been teased, Jones said that she's taking steps to ensure that she and her future partner can have a child of their own.
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"I have made the right move to prepare for a family if me and my husband want to try to have kids one day, we have options," she explained in a post to Instagram.
"No one should be shamed for taking their time to figure out who their life partner is.
"A woman shouldn’t be shamed for wanting biological kids or wanting to know what it’s like to be pregnant and carry her own child."
Britt Jones