Lolo Jones: US Track Star Must Display Focus at 2012 Summer Olympics

Lolo Jones has a chance to be a legitimate star at the 2012 Summer Olympics, but in order to do so she's going to have to display an incredible amount of focus.

This is the big stage we're talking about—the whole world is going to be watching—and it's probably safe to say that there are millions of things that could distract the average Olympic athlete.

The catch is, Jones is not the average Olympic athlete.

She's a superstar in her own right and she's one of the biggest names and storylines heading into the Olympics. Some know her now because of her good looks, while many others know her as the track star who plans the stay a virgin until she gets married.

Most, though—specifically those who remember the 2008 Olympics in Beijing—remember her as the U.S. track star who almost won the 100-meter hurdles, but watched her dreams fall (or trip) away as she tripped over the final hurdle.

However Jones is thought about leading up to the Olympics, she's undoubtedly going to be under a ton of pressure—both positive and negative.

One one hand, the pressure to represent her country will be huge, as it is with all athletes, but she's going to have the added pressure of being a celebrity athlete. All eyes are going to be on her as she runs, and her success or lack thereof will be talked about at length. She'll also have the pressure of proving that the infamous last hurdle at the 2008 games won't haunt her or hinder her performance in 2012.

Either way, she's going to be under the media microscope, so that's where focus is going to have to play a key role in her success.

When the pressure is up on an athlete, focus must follow suit. Look no further than LeBron James in this year's NBA playoffs for proof of that statement. He may have faced more pressure in one postseason than most athletes do in their entire careers, but he was able to remain focused on the task at hand, block out all the distractions and let his natural talent and training take over.

The same must be said for Jones if she wants to find success at the 2012 summer games.

There's going to be a ton of pressure on her to succeed and many distractions. To continue the LeBron comparison, she also has to get over athletic failures in her past to be considered a champion.

Focus needs to be the name of the game for Jones if she wants to come away as a winner at the Olympics.