Lolo Jones is ‘so desperate’ for an Olympic medal she took up bobsledding

Lolo Jones is in the midst of competitions to join the United States bobsledding team for the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics. While her motives seem both competitive and patriotic, in truth she has a far simpler aim: she just wants a doggone medal. Any medal.

"I'm so desperate. Desperate," Jones tells HBO's Real Sports this week, as reported by USA Today. "It absolutely doesn't matter (whether it's a Winter or Summer Games medal). And you know the hard question will be is if I get a medal for bobsled, and I get a medal finally for track, which would I love more?"

Jones entered the last two Olympic Games, in Beijing and London, with strong chances to win a medal at both. In Beijing, she tripped; in London, she finished fourth. And despite the name of this particular blog, fourth place does not get you a medal. It was that fourth-place finish that stung, and motivated Jones to seek a different venue to medaldom:

"If I won a freakin' medal — if I won any medal — I would not be a bobsledder," she said. "Absolutely not. Are you kidding me? No. No!"

Jones is in competitions to make the Olympic bobsledding team; the final team will be announced in January. Let's just say this latest revelation may not give her high marks in the "team player" category. But hey, if it ends in a medal, all's good, right?

-Follow Jay Busbee on Twitter at @jaybusbee.-