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Erin Jackson becomes first Black woman to win Olympic speed skating gold

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Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune

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Team USA speed skater Erin Jackson made history as the first Black woman to win the olympic’s speedskating gold.

On Sunday, Jackson won the speedskating 500 meter at a time of 37.04 seconds. Reportedly, she gave the American speed skating program its first ever medal in the sport of Beijing games and first individual medal since 2010.

Jackson reported to ESPN how she believes her triumph will result in a diverse change.

“Hopefully, this has an effect,” Jackson said. “Hopefully, we’ll see more minorities, especially in the USA, getting out and trying these winter sports.”

Despite the triumph, Jackson still dealt with critiques on her performance by viewers. She stated she had a couple of missteps but could still manage to pull it together.

Jackson has made history before, by becoming the first Black woman to represent speed skating for the US back in Pyeongchang, after having only played the sport five months prior back in Sep.17.

It was only her second Olympics. 

The athlete almost missed out on the opportunity after she slipped during qualifying trials. Her teammate and friend Brittany Bowe made sure that Jackson could participate in the winter Olympics by giving up her own spot. 

“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,” said Bowe.

Bowe ended up placing 16th in a time of 38.04 once other countries returned qualifying slots for the 500m game. Some were also redistributed to the US.

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