U.S. Speedskater Erin Jackson Only Started The Sport Five Years Ago, Makes History As Black Woman Winning Gold

• Erin Jackson grew up in a small, Florida town without an ice rink.
• Now she is a history-making speedskater in the Olympics.
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United States speed skater Erin Jackson has only competed in speedskating on ice for a grand total of five years. On Sunday, she made history as the first black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics.

And it was a gold one.

Jackson won the 500 meters with a time of 37.04 seconds and became the first American woman to win an individual medal in skating since 2002. She also joined fellow American Shani Davis as the only Black athletes to win speedskating medals at the Olympics.

To make things even crazier, Jackson was not supposed to be in Beijing. The 29-year-old slipped during Olympic qualifying and did not make Team USA.

However, Jackson’s teammate Brittany Bowe gave up her own spot to make sure that the world No. 1 was able to compete in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. It was an incredible moment.

And it paid off.

Jackson finished 0.08 seconds a head of Japan’s Mido Takagi to win gold on Sunday.

Her story is even more incredible, given the fact that she only started competing in her sport on ice in 2018. After just four months of competition on ice, Jackson qualified for her first Winter Olympics in PyeongChang and became the first Black American woman to represent the U.S. in the sport.

Jackson grew up in Ocala, Florida, where there was not a year-round rink.

She grew up with the plastic wheels strapped to her shoes, rattling up and down the driveway. Eventually she graduated to inline skating and started emulating figure skaters at the roller rink.

One day, she was introduced to speedskating and quickly became a world-class speedskater on pavement. Eventually, in 2018, she made the switch to the ice and now the rest is history. Literally.