Jackson’s groundbreaking gold ends drought for USA
BEIJING — Erin Jackson has never viewed herself as some sort of trailblazer. She just likes to skate really, really fast, whether it’s on wheels or blades.
Yet the 29-year-old from balmy Ocala, Florida, knew this moment was special, her chance to really make an impact on the generations that follow.
She’ll forever be known as the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics — and a gold one, at that.
“Hopefully, this has an effect,” Jackson said. “Hopefully, we’ll see more minorities, especially in the USA, getting out and trying these winter sports.”
Jackson won the 500 meters Sunday with a time of 37.04 seconds, giving the American speedskating program its first medal of the Beijing Games and first individual Olympic medal since 2010.
But this was much more than a needed boost to a sport that has produced more medals than any other for the United States in the history of the Winter Games.
Jackson, a former inline skater who switched to the ice shortly before the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, joined fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win longtrack speedskating medals at any Olympics. Now Jackson wants others to follow their path into a sport that draws scant attention back home.
“I just hope it will do something for the sport,” she said. “I always try to be a good example.”
The silver medal went to Miho Takagi of Japan, while Angelina Golikova of the Russian team took bronze.
Jackson’s gold came after she slipped at the U.S. trials and shockingly finished third, putting her spot on the Olympic team in jeopardy. Teammate Brittany Bowe, another Ocala skater who finished first at the trials, gave up her spot in the 500 to ensure Jackson would get to compete in Beijing.
“She made a really big sacrifice for me,” Jackson said. “I’ll be grateful to her forever.”
As it turned out, the Americans received a third slot in the 500 when the final allocations were made, so Bowe got to skate as well. She finished 16th, and the two close friends embraced after the gold was clinched.
“She hugged me and we cried,” Jackson said. “She said she’s really proud of me, and I said a lot of thankyous.”
Not a bad start
The team in red, white and blue now has the easiest path to gold.
The young U.S. men’s hockey squad held on to beat Germany 3-2 on Sunday, finishing the preliminary round unbeaten and clinching the top seed in the knockout round. The Americans move directly into the quarterfinals to face the winner of the Germany-Slovakia game from the qualification round.
U.S. players and coaches set a goal of winning the group. They’ve done that and more as the only team in the tournament to win all three of its games in regulation. The third was tougher than expected against the reigning silver medalists, who had to hold on to beat China 3-2 on Thursday, two nights after the Americans blew out the host country 8-0.