I feel sorry that Des Moines homegirl/ international track star Lolo Jones didn't win the Olympic gold medal she hoped and trained so hard for the past 4 years. As some of you know, clipping a hurdle near the finish line blew her lead and chance of medaling in the 2008 Beijing Olympics final. This time, she came in fourth in the final. She's had a number of other career successes, even so. I'm proud of her for them. But I have to admit, I'm disappointed in some of the things Lolo's been quoted as saying the past couple of days. No, I don't blame her at all for being disappointed and admitting it. It's a shame that practically the moment she crossed the finish line-- just one-tenth of a second and one placement away from at least winning the bronze-- there was a microphone in her face. Media will be media, there's no getting around it. Perhaps if Lolo had had just a few moments longer to marshall her emotions, she wouldn't have come off as feeling sorry for herself. Perhaps not. Unfortunately, she said defensively after the race that she doesn't know what happened, and that every time she comes to the Olympics, she "gets burned". Oh, dear. No, no, no. My dear old track coach dad would have gotten after her about that, that's for sure. Yikes! Hearing such wording, it's hard not to think Lolo has indeed been somewhat spoiled by all the media attention and promotional hype, which has been more than any other current track athlete, more than many athletes in general. Apparently she was even named the "sexiest athlete at the Olympics", according to an NBC commentator, who didn't specify by what entity. All well and good. But the moment you forget, even for a moment, that you're not *entitled* to a victory, and that, no matter how crushed you feel inside when you don't get it, you need to behave with dignity and keep your public comments and your overall working attitude sportswomanlike, it's time for a major reality check. You didn't get burned, Lolo. You just didn't win. You didn't get a medal. Neither did most of the others in that race and at the Olympics as a whole. As much as every athlete wants passionately to win, at the end of the race and the day, that just can't be all it's about. If it is, you'll be miserable. Don't go Tweeting stuff like "Lord Jesus heal my broken heart" to your fans, Lolo. Cringe. Get it back together, girl, hold your head up high, and to hell with the medals, anyway. Be glad you're still young and still very, very fast. Time is even faster, believe me.

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