Lolo Jones isn’t horsing around

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DesMoinesRegister.com reports that 100-meter hurdles specialist Lolo Jones might race a horse after she’s finished with the Beijing Games.

Jones is in discussions with about a possible promotion at Prairie Meadows Race Track & Casino in Altoona, Iowa. Jones, who will run the 100-meter hurdles at the Beijing Games, wasn’t available for comment, but her attorney told the website that Jones dreamed up the woman-versus-horse race.
‘She thought it would be something of interest,’ David Adelman said.’It’s tentatively been talked about, contingent upon schedule and a safe structure.’
Among the options being considered: creating a safe environment for both contestants by steamrolling a footpath onto the racetrack for the human and letting the equine competitor run on the deeper, traditional surface.

Though a race date has yet to be set, Prairie Meadows already has paid Jones $4,000 for an upcoming autograph session, the newspaper reported. Jones, who attended Des Moines Theodore Roosevelt High School, would use the cash to help finance her family’s trip to Beijing.

Jones wouldn’t be the first human to race a horse. The Blood-Horse magazine headline in June 2007 was ‘Man beats horse on River Downs turf course,’ when Cincinnati Bengals wide receiver Chad Johnson outran thoroughbred racehorse Restore the Roar by 12 lengths. (For the record, Johnson ran 100 yards, and the horse ran 220 yards.)
Olympian Jesse Owns also staged some distinctive races in order to raise cash. His website notes that ‘For a while he was a runner-for-hire, racing against anything from people, to horses, to motorcycles.’
No word yet on whether Jones’ horse race would be a straight sprint or a steeplechase.

-- Greg Johnson

Insert: Des Moines, Iowa-native Lolo Jones during an Olympic send-off rally on July 14 in her hometown. Credit: Charlie Neibergall / Associated Press