Olympic hurdler, Lolo Jones, who gained fame last year for admitting to be a 29-year-old virgin, is under fire this week for a tweet she made. In yet another social media blunder, the athlete tweeted on July 28 after USA's archery team fell short:
Jones is very active on Twitter with 189,000 followers and is known for her joking tweets. However this incited a negative reaction from many of her fans, especially in the aftermath of the tragic Colorado movie theater shooting.
Some of her Twitter fans thought it was in poor taste, tweeting things like, "Yikes, you're probably gonna get some not-so-nice responses to that last tweet..." and "Please say that's a clever way of asking about weightlifting. PLEASE."
Jones responded by tweeting, "Sorry u guys only think of violence but I think of all the hunting I do w southerners in da south. Its impressive."
Though Jones probably didn't mean to offend anyone, it further reinforces the power of social media, especially when you are a high profile figure like Jones, and that athletes need to "think before they tweet". It brings back memories of Greek track star Voula Papachristou who was recently banned from participating the Olympics because of a racist tweet she made.
Chris Chase of Yahoo! Sports, tweeted about Jones' insensitive tweet, "Lolo was competing in a triple jump of stupidity" and "So, there. It's your fault you're thinking of violence while people are still recovering in the hospital from an attack that brought upon the most casualties in American history."
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