Canadian lawyer leads team to gold medal in Olympic curling event
A 39-year-old Canadian lawyer was jubilant Thursday after leading her team to a gold medal in the women’s curling event at the 2014 Olympic Games in Sochi, the Star reports.
“We’re Olympic gold medalists,” said Jennifer Jones. “It’s something that you dream of for your entire life. It’s what every athlete wants to do and we did it today.”
An in-house counsel at Wellington West Capital when she was profiled in 2008 by the Lawyers Weekly, Jones credited a flexible work arrangement for allowing her to compete at a championship level and simultaneously practice law.
Jennifer Jones in 2011. Jamie Roach / Shutterstock.com
“If I know I’ll be gone from Friday to Monday then I try to get all my work done by Thursday. If that means I work until 11 o’clock at night, I work until 11 o’clock at night. When I’m at work, I’m probably the most focused person you’ll ever meet,” she told the legal publication.
She said in the 2008 interview that technology is critical to her ability to stay on top of her job while she is out of the office.
“I have a laptop and a BlackBerry. If I have to draft or revise a contract, I’ll do it at night in my room and then email it when the day is over,” she explained. “I know what needs to get done and I can manage it over that time. If we have two games that day, my team will usually go out for dinner, but I’ll just order room service and work and that’s fine. That’s the decision that I’ve made. I want to have a career, and I want to curl.”
