Erin Jackson does not want to be the only Black woman to win Winter Olympics individual gold
When American speedskater Erin Jackson won the 500 meters at the Beijing Games four years ago, she knew, of course, that it was her first Olympic medal. She also was aware that it had been a while — 28 years, to be exact — since a woman from the U.S. finished first in that event.
What she had no idea about until days later: Jackson was the first Black woman, from any country, to claim an individual gold medal, in any sport, at any Winter Olympics.
Jackson definitely does not want to be the last.
“It was just really surprising, I guess, because I felt like, ‘How could that be?’” she said in an interview with The Associated Press at the U.S. Speedskating trials ahead of the Milan Cortina Games. “When you think about how many Winter Olympics we’ve had, I just thought it was really strange. I hope people can see my story and the stories of other Black women in winter sports and then, hopefully, we’ll have more coming up soon.”
They’re not there yet.
The 33-year-old Jackson is the only Black athlete among the 21 speedskaters on the long track and short track squads for the United States at these Olympics, although this could be the most diverse Winter Games roster the country’s had overall.
https://apnews.com/article/olympics-erin-jackson-speedskating-479ed4825b2968d3a25eadc4ec23bd07
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I saw a cool profile on her recent qualifying and prior experiences via the NBC Sports app’s Olympic coverage…
Great article…thanks for posting here! 