ESPN Olympic Sports

PARK CITY, Utah -- For all the changes Lolo Jones has endured in her transformation from Olympic hurdler to bobsledder, perhaps nothing has proven more challenging than her quest to build a bigger, stronger, heavier body.

Last year, during her inaugural bobsled season, the 31-year-old struggled to put on weight. So you can imagine her excitement during a recent commercial shoot when she slipped into her Team USA bobsled suit only to have it rip down the middle of her torso. While many would have reacted with horror, Jones smiled.

"Yeah, that hasn't happened to me before," Jones admitted Monday at the U.S. Olympic media summit. "They had to sew me back in. It was crazy. I was like, 'Get me a scale.' I was happy."

Happy because the wardrobe malfunction meant Jones was inching closer to her target weight of 162 pounds that she hopes to reach in the lead-up to the Sochi Olympics. Jones, who weighed 135 pounds when she finished fourth in the 100-meter hurdles in the 2012 London Games, struggled to eclipse 150 pounds last season.

After dropping down to 138 to run hurdles this past spring and summer, she's ecstatic that she's already up to 158.5 pounds before the 2013 bobsled season has even begun. (Her diet included plenty of bacon double cheeseburgers and consuming 9,000 calories per day.)

"As a track athlete, you're more like a greyhound dog," Jones said. "With bobsled, you're more Rottweiler or pit bull. At first, my legs were so thick. I felt like I had pregnant legs."

It's all in the name of Jones' longtime goal: winning an Olympic medal.

"When you're wearing that Team USA, it doesn't feel any different if you're in a bobsled uniform or a track uniform," she said. "You get the same chills. Well, maybe it's a bit colder [for bobsled]."

Jones is one of several American women who will be vying for a spot on the U.S. bobsled team. She finished second in her first career World Cup competition last November and was part of the U.S. team that won gold at last year's World Championships.

The U.S. team trials begin Oct. 12. Regardless of what happens there and whether or not she's selected for the U.S. team, the Iowa native said she has every intention of returning to track and field to hopefully compete in Rio in 2016. And, on Monday, she hinted that the bobsled might not be the end of her Winter Olympics dream.

"When I went out to bobsled, the skeleton coach said, 'You should really be a skelly athlete,'" Jones said. "'You wouldn't have to gain all the weight. You could go back and forth easier,' So, I hate to say this, but after the Winter Olympics, I kind of want to try skelly. Not serious. But I just want to go down and see what it's like."

U.S. Track and Field released the full list of participants for the U.S. Open event on Jan. 28 at Madison Square Garden in New York:

The inaugural U.S. Open kicks off the USATF's Visa Championships Series and will be broadcast on Jan. 29 on ESPN2 (7 p.m. ET).

Here's a look at the field:

Men's events

50 meters: Trell Kimmons (USA), Kimmari Roach (JAM), Asafa Powell (JAM), Justin Gatlin (USA), Daniel Bailey (ANT), Nesta Carter (JAM).

600 yards: Bershawn Jackson (USA), Renny Quow (TRI), Greg Nixon (USA), Tabarie Henry (UVI).

Mile: Bernard Lagat (USA), Silas Kiplagat (KEN), Henok Legesse (ETH), Daniel Komen Kipchirchir (KEN), Anthony Famiglietti (USA), Matt Elliott (USA).

50-meter hurdles: Aries Merritt (USA), David Oliver (USA), Terrence Trammell (USA), Jeff Porter (USA), Dwight Thomas (USA), Omo Osaghae (USA).

Shot put: Christian Cantwell (USA), Adam Nelson (USA), Ryan Whiting (USA), Cory Martin (USA).

High Jump: Jesse Williams (USA), Dusty Jonas (USA), Jamie Nieto (USA), Jim Dilling (USA).

Women's events

50 meters: Bianca Knight (USA), Veronica Campbell-Brown (JAM), Alexandria Anderson (USA), Tehesia Harrigan (IVB), Jessica Young (USA), Gloria Asumnu (NGR).

500 yards: Monica Hargrove (USA), Jasmine Chaney (USA), Keshia Baker (USA), Davita Prendergast (JAM).

800 meters: Ajee Wilson (USA), Fantu Magiso (ETH), Jessica Smith (CAN).

Mile: Anna Pierce (USA), Stephanie Garcia (USA), Lauren Hagans (USA), Brenda Martinez (USA).

50-meter hurdles: Kellie Wells (USA), Lolo Jones (USA), Dawn Harper (USA), Tiffany Porter (GBR), Nia Ali (USA), Ginnie Crawford (USA).

Pole vault: Jenn Suhr (USA), Becky Holliday (USA), Jillian Schwartz (ISR), Lacy Jansen (USA), Mary Saxer (USA), Janice Keppler (USA).

Hurdler Lolo Jones doesn’t want her stumble in the 100 meters final at the 2008 Olympics to be the defining moment of her career, and she intends to run the race of her life in London next August. But she has another kind of obstacle course to navigate first. Jones, 29, won a 60-meter hurdles indoor world title in 2010 but also struggled with injuries and chronic sciatica pain on and off in the three seasons following Beijing. She hit an emotional low at this year’s U.S. National Championships when she failed to advance to the final of her event and thus missed making the world team, but began to get some much-needed answers when she was diagnosed with a tethered spinal cord this summer. She underwent microsurgery in August and has been cleared to resume full practices again on Oct. 1. ESPN.com’s Bonnie D. Ford caught up with Jones this week to ask what it’s like to go back to taking baby steps.

Ford: I went back and watched the video of you in the mixed zone at nationals after the semi (where Jones was eliminated), and you were just a ball of frustration and hurt and disappointment. I know it hasn’t been a picnic since then, but how far have you come attitude-wise?

Jones: I definitely was a different person at USA Nationals, because at nationals I didn’t know what was going on. We had no answer to the problem. I knew I was having back pains, and I kept hitting hurdles, but it wasn’t like an all-out injury where I pulled my hamstring and I knew I was injured. We didn’t even know I was injured at that point. I was very frustrated, very bitter. The future looked really doubtful in my eyes. Now that I have a reason, I’ve had surgery; I’m on the path to recovery; there’s definitely hope. I feel lighter, and I’m so motivated and filled with hope and excited. It’s been a bipolar experience.

Ford: Well, all great athletes are control freaks in one way or another, and just to know and have information about what was wrong with you, I’m sure, was a huge relief.

Jones: Just to know exactly what was wrong with me took a huge burden off of everything I was carrying. I was a walking ball of stress. I feel bad for my family and friends who were around me at that time because I just was not a very nice person. They’d be having conversations with me but my whole mind, everything was still focused on, what is going on with my life right now? What is happening? And I had no way to fix it. Now all my efforts and energies are on the path to mend.

Ford: I think everyone assumes that because of your personal backstory and all the things you had to overcome as a young person, that it might be easier for you to deal with something like this. Is that really true?

Jones: My past experiences have definitely helped me overcome these obstacles. What I went through this year was the hardest year of my life. I’ve overcome a lot for sure, and I have a lot more to overcome. It definitely helps having that tough background, but at the same time, it’s like, when am I going to get a break? I don’t want these Lifetime movie stories all the time. I just want -- when am I going to get a Disney story?

Ford: How much more do you think you’ll appreciate what you do for a living when you get back to it?

Jones: I already appreciate it. The moment I came out of surgery and I could no longer walk. I was like, “Wow, I was one of the fastest runners in the world.” That was humbling. It’s the first time in my life I appreciated the fact that I could walk. … I never thought I would be so happy to take 10 steps and not collapse. It’s a mind transformation for sure.

Ford: To have to depend on people is probably hard.

Jones: Very tough for an athlete to depend on people. My sister through it all was [waiting on me] hand and feet. She was there thick and thin. I’m so glad she has two kids. I was like her third kid. We had a situation kind of like the “Bridesmaids” scenes, because of the meds. Can’t go into much more of that! [Laughs] Sister was there for it all. Sister of the year goes to her for sure.