ATLANTA — Erin Jackson has historic momentum. The former inline champion has now made a name for herself as one of the key stars in a wholly different sport; long track speed skating.
Born in Ocala, Florida, Jackson first began inline skating when she was only 10 years old but in 2017, she decided to switch sports and move to speed skating on the ice, according to the Team USA website.
By that point, Jackson had already accumulated 12 medals at the world championship level for inline skating, according to Olympics.com. However, as the website notes, she "dreamed of making the switch to the ice."
"I lived and trained in Salt Lake City, which is the fastest ice in the world," she told Olympics.com in an interview. "Realistically, if you're not going to get the time in Salt Lake City, you're not going to get it in Milwaukee, which is where we had the Olympic trials."
After only four months of training, Jackson became the first Black American woman to compete at the Olympics in long track speed skating.
Now, four years later, she's entering her second Olympics, leading the way for other young Black athletes looking to compete in the winter games.
"I don't mind being a trailblazer or pioneer or something like that. I'd love to be something like that if it opens the doors for other people to say 'maybe I should give this sport a try' when previously they might look at the sport and see no one who looks like them," she explained in the interview with Olympics.com.
At the Winter Games in PyeongChang, Jackson finished 24th, but insists to Olympics.com that she is just getting started.
For Jackson, the desire to keep improving, and reach higher levels both mentally and physically keeps her going, according to her bio on Team USA's web page.
That persistence has allowed the 29-year-old to overcome recent obstacles on her way to the Olympic stage once again.
The global pandemic in 2020 and 2021 largely kept her from training on the ice, plus a bungee cord accident left one of her eyes damaged. Yet despite those setbacks, Jackson is still healing up her skates and heading back to the track.
This season, she became the first Black American woman to win gold in the world cup speed skating event, then won gold two more times.
For now, she's keeping that momentum as she races toward a historic Olympics in Beijing.