“I hope to help motivate the next generation of speed skaters”
Erin Jackson
Here at W2WT Magazine, we love to celebrate WOC for achieving greatness, especially 1st time, historical ground-breaking greatness. We are honored to celebrate Ms. Erin Jackson for being the 1st WOC Gold Medal winner of the 2022 Winter Olympics: Women’s 500m Speed Skating Olympic Race in Beijing, China. Not only did this Beautiful, Strong, Boss Bad Queen become the first WOC to qualify for the US Olympic Team in speed skating, she also represented the United States expertly, and demonstrated the power, strength, and determination of WOC globally during Black History Month.
“I just like going really fast”, Erin Jackson
Erin Jackson was born on September 19, 1992 in Ocala, Florida. She started skating when she was 10 years old. She also began her skating career in 2003 as an inline and roller derby skater. She is well-known for competing and winning in skating on and off the ice. For example, Erin has experienced multiple world championships skating competitions ranging from the 2008 Gold 500m Track to the 2015 Silver 100m. The amazing part about Erin’s skating career is that her first time on the ice was only six years ago before winning the Gold Medal in Speed Skating in 2022.
“It’s so amazing and it’s hard to imagine someone making a sacrifice like that for you. She is an amazing selfless person”. Erin Jackson
Although Erin Jackson was disqualified for slipping in the speed skating trials, her hometown friend and (Team USA) teammate, Brittany Bowe dropped out of the race and opened the door for Erin to race. Brittany’s decision to bow out didn’t stop her from winning a medal either. As a matter of fact Brittany Bowe won the Bronze Medal in the 1,000 speed skating event and still holds the world record in that category. It was a win win celebration that speaks volumes to women globally saying, “It’s ok if it looks like you’re taking a back seat to your sister but, you’ll still stand side by side in the end”, W2WT.
Hard Work
“It might seem kind of impossible but you just have to put the work in,” Erin Jackson.
One can only imagine the hard work and discipline it took to train as well as transition onto the ice for Erin but she did it well. From the moment she took off skating, Erin was in the lead and never fell behind. She made it look so effortless as she glided on the ice. She had good body tucking posture as her arms swished from left to right. She was moving really fast and finished in 37.40 seconds.The next 2 competitors didn’t beat her score, which made Erin Jackson the winner of the Gold Medal in Women’s Speed Skating. Vonetta Flowers was the only other WOC who won an Olympic Gold Medal in Bobsledding, 20 years ago.
After the announcement that she had won the Gold Medal, the world watched as Erin Jackson took a seat, bowed her head into her lap.It was like she realized all the hard work, training, and discipline had paid off. She had won!
It was an exciting race to watch and even more exciting to know that a WOC had did it again: Beat the odds, thrived, and won
CONGRATULATIONS!!! ERIN JACKSON!