While Steve Carell’s version of a 40-year-old virgin actually ended up with a pretty good dating life, an Olympian who announced she’d never slept with anyone ended up having a lot of regret over the revelation.
Lolo Jones, 41, is known for being one of the most successful hurdlers in the history of US athletics, as well as forming part of the country’s winning bobsleigh team.
She has a wealth of incredible achievements under her belt, but it only took one post on X, formerly Twitter, for people to turn their attention to another aspect of her life.
In 2012, when she was in her late twenties, Jones revealed she was a virgin and was open about the fact she wanted to wait until marriage to have sex.
She further discussed her decision in an interview on HBO’s Real Sports with Bryant Gumbel, where she said that abstaining from sex was the ‘hardest thing’ she’d done, but that it was a ‘gift’ she wanted to give to her future husband.
“But please understand, this journey has been hard,” Jones continued.
“There’s virgins out there, I’m gonna let them know, it’s the hardest thing I’ve ever done in my life.
“Harder than training for the Olympics, harder than graduating from college, has been to stay a virgin before marriage.”
Jones’ decision to speak candidly about her choice is to be commended, but she later admitted that it was a ‘mistake’ to admit to being a virgin, as it really impacted her love life.
Speaking to Kevin Hart on his Cold as Balls podcast, she said: “That was a mistake. That killed all my dates after that – like didn’t even have a chance. Like before, at least I had a chance.
“Before, I’d like, tiptoe, ‘Okay, when’s a good time to tell him? Do I wait until he sees my personality a little bit? Or do I just drop the bomb?’”
Not only did not having sex impact her dating life, but Jones also revealed that abstaining from sex impacted her sporting career, too.
“I have a higher level of intensity because I don’t have any pressure release. Everybody knows me as stressed out,” she said.
“Having sex actually helps you as an athlete, a female athlete. It’s good for your hormones. So I’m running at a disadvantage.”
In 2022, Jones began to freeze her eggs to help her chances of having a family in the future.
The athlete also told the MailOnline in summer that she’s now focused on finding ‘peace’ in life, saying: “I know it seems super weird, but I’m just trying to do things that are peaceful. I tell everybody I’m on a day-by-day plan.”
