“Sometimes you think the storm will drown you… Then you realize you’ve grown gills.” Tia Jones has seen seas—high ones, crashing ones, and the kind that almost pull you under. Just over a year ago, the American hurdler’s Olympic dreams got clipped by the cruelest of turns: an ACL injury in February 2024, just months before the U.S. Olympic Trials. She tried, God, she tried—making it to the semifinals in Eugene, but the Paris Games moved on without her. She didn’t race again that season. She disappeared. But not for good. Fast forward to 2025: Tia Jones didn’t just return, but she was better. From Kingston to Miramar, her name is flying back up the performance lists, and it has now drawn the attention of a US track and field legend!

Honestly, if anyone knows how hard this sport can hit you—physically, mentally, publicly—it’s Justin Gatlin. And that’s exactly why his words on Ready Set Go stopped people mid-scroll. “I want to give shouts out to Tia,” Gatlin said, his voice firm with respect. “We all know that Tia has been going through some personal issues that’s been out in the news. And she’s navigated through that with grace and with poise and focus.”

Tia Jones has battled some personal issues involving her ex-fiancé, NFL player Xavier Worthy, that have made headlines. Her ACL injury, also in early 2024, wrecked her Paris Olympic dream. But Gatlin isn’t handing out pity points. He’s pointing to what matters now: how she’s racing. And in 2025, she’s racing like a freight train. Just look at what she did in Miramar in the second leg of the Grand Slam Track. 12.19 seconds in the 100m hurdles—third-fastest time in history. Two-hundredths of a second behind Masai Russell. That’s how close she came to the very top. No signs of stress. Just business. “You definitely didn’t see none of that stress and drama pour into her races,” Gatlin said. “She handled business… She ran at an elite level.”

It’s not just one magical race either. Tia won in Kingston, beating a field stacked with two global champions: Danielle Williams and Jasmine Camacho-Quinn. 12.63 seconds. Just enough to remind everyone she was serious “So hats off to Tia, especially coming back after that injury that she had indoor season. She has shown that she picked up right where she left off at.”

And don’t forget her journey. Tia turned pro right out of high school—rare for a female short hurdler. Jones, then a senior at Wheeler High School in Marietta, Georgia, turned pro in 2019. Right after graduating from high school in 2019, she signed with Adidas “Usually, development comes with being a short hurdler,” Gatlin explained. “But they saw something in her early on… and now it’s definitely paying off for Adidas.” But all this while it hasn’t been easy for her!

Tia Jones had a difficult time

Let’s be real, Tia Jones has been through the wringer! In 2021, she tore her Achilles, an injury that can derail even the most promising careers. “Suffering from an complete Achilles rupture was the lowest moment in my life.. especially because I’ve never had been injured before. My Achilles was hanging by a string so the doctors told me it’s possibly I wouldn’t be able to run the same again !!” she posted on Instagram on 18 June 2021. She fought through rehab, only to be sidelined again with a hamstring injury that knocked her out of the Tokyo Olympic trials. “2 weeks ago I strained my hamstring and I’m not able to make it to Olympic trials !! The worst feeling of it all for me is I feel so close but so far away !” she added in the same post.

Then came 2024, and with it, yet another setback. While competing at the USATF Indoor Championships, she tore her ACL after crashing into the pads. She tried to make it through the Olympic trials, but luck wouldn’t have it!

And as if that wasn’t enough, 2025 brought emotional turbulence off the track too. In March, her relationship with NFL player Xavier Worthy came to an end. It wasn’t a quiet breakup—it was public, painful, and emotionally draining!