Featured Image Credit: Getty/Ian Walton/Getty/Christopher Polk
Topics: Health, Sport, Sex and Relationships, Celebrity
Gerrard Kaonga
Topics: Health, Sport, Sex and Relationships, Celebrity
When you think of an adult virgin, you might immediately picture someone like Steve Carell in The 40-Year-Old Virgin... but it's unlikely to be a successful Olympian.
Lolo Jones, 41, has proven herself to be one of the most successful hurdlers in the history of US athletics, and has shown her versatility by also forming part of the country's winning bobsleigh team.
She has also qualified for this year's women's 100m hurdles at the 2024 US Olympic Team Trials - track and field.
However, the world class athlete seemingly hasn't had as much success in her dating life.
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Back in 2012, one simple post on X about being a virgin seemed to focus people's attention less on her athletic accomplishments, and more on her personal life.
At this time she was in her late twenties, and opened up about being a virgin and wanting to wait till marriage to do the deed.
She further discussed her decision in an interview on HBO's Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, and said that abstaining from sex was one of the hardest thing she's ever had to do.
But she ultimately considered it a 'gift' she wanted to give her future husband.
"But please understand, this journey has been hard," Jones said. "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' decision to speak candidly about her choice is a brave one, but she later admitted that it was a 'mistake' to admit to being a virgin as it really impacted her love life.
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 not having sex impact her dating life, but Jones also revealed that abstaining from sex impacted her sporting career, too.
"I have a higher level of intensity because I don't have any pressure release. Everybody knows me as stressed out," she said.
"Having sex actually helps you as an athlete, a female athlete. It's good for your hormones. So I’m running at a disadvantage."
In 2022, Jones began to freeze her eggs to help her chances of having a family in the future.
The athlete also told the Mail Online last year that she's now focused on finding 'peace' in life, saying: "I know it seems super weird, but I'm just trying to do things that are peaceful. I tell everybody I'm on a day-by-day plan."