Erin Jackson, who began her journey to superstardom in 2017, has just made history as the first-ever Black woman to win an Olympic gold medal for speed skating.
The 29-year-old athlete earned the gold medal during the women’s 500-meter speedskating event Sunday, which is historical for two reasons.
Not only is she the first Black woman to win a medal for the sport, but she is the first American to bring home a medal for individual speedskating in many years. Needless to say, she is incredibly excited to be a racing legend.
“I wish I could describe how I feel,” the skater stated after the race. “It is amazing. This medal means so much.”
With an astonishing time of 37.04, she placed 0.08 seconds ahead of Japan’s Miho Takagi and 0.17 seconds ahead of the Russian Olympic Committee’s Angelina Golikova. “I cried immediately, it was just a big release of emotion. A lot of shock, a lot of relief, and a lot of happiness. I haven’t fully processed everything quite yet, but it just feels amazing,” Jackson commented following her big win.
Erin Jackson’s journey to the 2022 Olympic Games
Beginning speedskating in 2017, the athlete has not been involved with the sport. for a very long time. However, she qualified for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics after only four months of training. Four years ago, she finished 24th in the same race.
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However, what is perhaps more shocking, is Jackson was very close to not competing in the 500m race. Although she arrived in Beijing with a No. 1 ranking, she failed to qualify for the race after she nearly fell during the placement race in January. Yet, her teammate Brittany Bowe, who placed first, dropped out of the race which earned Jackson a spot to compete.
Bowe explained to reporters after the incident that she felt it was more important for Jackson to have a position to compete in the 500m since she excels at that specific race. Bowe shared, according to CNN, “Right after the race, I knew that if it came down to me relinquishing my spot for her to be named on the team, I would do that because she deserves it.”
“She has earned the right to compete in her marquee event at the Olympics, and it was an honor to give her that spot for the opportunity to race for gold for Team USA,” she also included.
Jackson has expressed gratitude for Bowe and acknowledged her qualification earlier this month. “Definitely not the way I imagined qualifying for my second Olympic team… but I guess I had to one-up my story from the 2018 Trials,” the 29-year-old gold medalist tweeted.
She added the sentiments, “I’m incredibly grateful and humbled by the kindness of @BrittanyBowe in helping me to secure a chance at reaching my goals.”
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