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Lolo Jones takes silver medal in bobsled debut


Well, that was easy.*

Just months after coming away empty-handed at the London Olympic Games, track star Lolo Jones has switched sports, and seasons, and come away with hardware. At the bobsled World Cup opener in Lake Placid, N.Y., on Friday, Jones and driver Jazmine Fenlator won a silver medal in the competition. Placing third by just 0.01 seconds? Driver Elana Meyers and Tianna Madison, who won gold in London in the 4x100m relay.

Track stars are welcome in the sport of bobsledding because of their ability to get up to top speed almost immediately. They can push the sled and then effectively hop in for the ride; as you can see from the video above, Jones' strong push gave the team a bit of breathing room through the run and still allowed them to take home the silver. (Gold went to Canada's team.)

"I'm kind of in shock," Jones said after the run. "We've been training with all the other Team USA members. It's been an inner battle within our own team. I think this is great that we had a great run today on race day. I'm so used to just so relying on myself. I've never experienced this level of having a team before."

Jones, who competed in both the 2008 and 2012 Summer Olympics, only just began participating in bobsled events a few weeks ago, enticed by the prospect of joining another top-quality team and perhaps winning medals in another sport and another Olympics.

The final Olympic teams won't be named for some time, as coach Todd Hays will rotate athletes throughout the coming months to determine the best fit for 2014. The athletes will compete in the 2012-13 World Cup season, which runs through February, with stops in France, Germany, Austria, Switzerland, and the 2014 Games site of Sochi, Russia. Hays will name the final Olympic team at the start of the 2013 season.

The American track stars join an august list of athletes who have made the jump to bobsledding, from Edwin Moses to Herschel Walker. And with this performance, she'll have an edge in competing for a spot on the United States team in the 2014 Winter Games.

*-Of course it wasn't easy. If it was, you'd be doing it.

[Video via Universal Sports.]