Lolo Jones: Virginity Harder than Training for Olympics

One of America’s best female hurdlers is a virgin, a personal choice, she said, that has been more difficult than training for the Olympics.

In an interview with HBO’s “Real Sports,” U.S. hurdler Lolo Jones acknowledged that she has maintained her virginity, describing it as the most challenging thing she’s faced to date.

“It’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life,” she told HBO’s Mary Carillo. “Harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college has been trying to stay a virgin for marriage. I’ve been tempted, I’ve had plenty of opportunities.”

Jones, 29, is expected to be one of the favorites in the 60-meter and 100-meter hurdles at this summer’s Olympics in London. She’s trying to bounce back from tripping on the penultimate hurdle and finishing in a disappointing seventh place in the 100-meter hurdles at the 2008 Olympics. Her virginity, however, is something she’s maintained throughout her training, even if it has hindered her attempts at landing a boyfriend.During her interview with HBO, she discussed how keeping her virginity can make dating more challenging and how she favors Twitter for finding a boyfriend over online dating sites. Jones is not the only high-profile athlete whose virginity is a topic for public discussion. Dating website AshleyMadison.com recently offered $1 million to anyone who could prove that New York Jets quarterback Tim Tebow was no longer a virgin. Tebow had previously stated that he was also waiting until marriage to have sex.

Perhaps if Jones can win gold in London then she'll celebrate by Tebowing. She barely missed out on winning the gold medal in 2008, leading the race with two hurdles to go. But she clipped the final hurdle, stumbled to thee ground and finished in seventh place.

"I messed up and it cost me the gold medal," the former LSU track star said earlier in May. "The good thing about failure is that if you learn from them they can make you such a stronger person and there is not a day that has gone by that I have not thought about that race."