Two of America’s most promising Track & Field athletes have gotten their wings. Lolo Jones, hurdle champion and Trey Hardee, 2009 Decathlon World Champion, will be the first track athletes to join Red Bull North America’s historically successful roster that spans the sports spectrum from football to NASCAR to snowboarding.
Hurdler Lolo Jones, 28, is one of the world’s fastest (not to mention most beautiful) women. Jones is a two-time World Champion in the 60-meter hurdles with the face and body of a model and the heart and legs of a thoroughbred. Jones’ rags-to-riches tale is storybook: Born in Iowa and raised by a single working mother, the family changed homes every year and lived in a church basement when they had nowhere left to go.
Jones found her escape in track — first at Roosevelt High in Des Moines, where she became the Track Athlete of the Year, and later at LSU, where she won three national titles and was an 11-time All-American (all the while working night jobs).
"I've been drinking Red Bull for years and I loved what I saw them doing for their Winter Olympic athletes in 2010." -Trey Hardee
As a pro focusing on the 100-meter, Jones just got faster, and was poised to be Team USA’s “next big thing” when she clipped the second-to-last hurdle while in the lead at the Beijing Olympics and lost the gold medal she’d worked a lifetime for. Instead of focusing on disappointment, she used the mistake as motivation, set a personal best, broke the American record, and is now laser-focused on London.
Jones has worked for 12 years for the chance at 12 seconds of glory, and Red Bull is proud to support her journey in a variety of ways. Lolo has already had a long relationship with the product. “Before being sponsored by Red Bull I was already drinking them to hype me up for races. I no longer have to panic if I forgot to buy one the night before. Now I'll have a case waiting for me at the race.”
“I also learned how deep a partnership is meant when they support their athletes. They asked what I needed help with to get better. Within weeks I was linked with an elite nutritionist and sports psychiatrist.”
Justin Kosman/Red Bull Content Pool
Trey Hardee, 27, was named the World’s Greatest Athlete in 2009, a title that’s up for grabs just once every two years, and the only way to earn it is to excel at ten different sports over two grueling days in that brutal combination of Track and Field events known as the Decathlon World Championship.
The Alabama-born athlete, who now makes his home in Texas, holds the third-best decathlon score ever for an American and the seventh-best all-time score internationally. In addition to the World crown, he has claimed NCAA and U.S. National championships, set numerous records, and earned kudos including the Jim Thorpe All-Around Award and NCAA Division I Men’s Indoor Field Athlete of the Year.
Trey also represented the United States at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing, and when the decathlon is contested at the Games in 2012, he’d like nothing better than to be part of a U.S. podium sweep.
“When I heard that Red Bull was interested in giving me some ‘wings’, I don't think I slept for a week! I've been drinking Red Bull for years and I loved what I saw them doing for their Winter Olympic athletes in 2010. I can't wait to start working with them on bringing home gold in London."
Jones and Hardee join the legacy of Red Bull champions such as Olympic gold medalists Lindsey Vonn, Shaun White, Todd Rogers and Phil Dalhausser, as well as champions Tim Lincecum, Jimmy Rollins, Reggie Bush and Rajon Rondo, to name just a few. With some added pep in their step, all eyes will be on this pair of superstar athletes to carry on the tradition.
Follow Lolo and Trey - along with Red Bull - on Twitter for more.
RELATED CONTENT:
- New York Red Bulls win their third game in a row
- Bull Camp Fitness with Pro Beach Volleyball player Todd Rogers
- More Red Bull Pro Sports
Comments
Add a comment