Photo courtesy of NBC Sports
Erin Jackson became the first black woman to win a speedskating gold medal at the Winter Olympics.
Jackson, 29, competed in the women’s 500-meter race and became a gold medalist in a time of 37.04 on Sunday, CNN reported.
“I came here to win,” she said.
The Florida native almost missed the opportunity to compete in the women’s 500m after she slipped and came in third place during the qualifying finals. However, her teammate, Brittany Bowe, gave up her spot to ensure that Jackson could go to Beijing, China — and now she’s a US champion.
“She made a really big sacrifice for me,” Jackson said. “I’ll be grateful to her forever.”
Jackson is the first US woman to win a gold medal in speedskating at the Olympics since Bonnie Blair in 1994. According to Team USA, she also became the first American woman to win an individual Olympic gold medal since 2002.
“I just hope that it will do something for the sport,” Jackson said. “Hopefully, more people will see this and be like, ‘Ohhh, maybe I should try some of these winter sports.’”
Japan’s Miho Takagi finished 0.08 seconds behind Jackson in silver, while Russian Olympic Committee’s Angelina Golikovain finished third in bronze.
“I cried immediately. It was just a big release of emotion. A lot of shock, a lot of relief and a lot of happiness. I haven’t fully processed everything quite yet, but it just feels amazing,” Jackson said after the victory.
She added: “I had a little misstep on the backstretch, but I just tried to, I wouldn’t say recover, because it wasn’t anything big, but just tried to continue skating.”
Jackson, a University of Florida graduate, started as an inline and roller derby skater in 2016 before transitioning into an ice skater in 2018.
After earning a spot on Team USA and qualifying for the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, she finished 24th in the 500 and displayed that she could become a US champion, AP reported.
While competing in the World Cup, Jackson became one of the world’s best sprinters. She was the first black woman to earn one of those titles.
“When I won the first World Cup, I was like, ‘OK, that’s strange. Let’s see where it goes,’” Jackson recalled. “Then I won another, and I was like, ‘Well, maybe I can do this.’”
Jackson is working towards another associate’s in kinesiology after she earned an associate’s degree in computer science and a degree in material science.
The Olympic champion said she hopes to increase diversity in speed skating.
“I can’t see myself stopping now when I’m just figuring out what I’m doing,” she said prior to winning gold. “I feel like it’s the beginning.”
Take a look at Jackson’s historic finish below.