Erin Jackson makes Olympic history with speed skating gold

Just over a month after a slip at Olympic Trials nearly cost her a trip to Beijing for the 2022 Winter Olympics, U.S. speed skater Erin Jackson is an Olympic gold medalist.

Jackson, competing her second Olympics just six years after she first stepped on the ice, won gold in the women’s 500-meter event.

“This medal means so much,” she said. “It has been a tough couple of years and a tough beginning for this year. For this to come around like this, I am so happy.”

Skating in the second-to-last pair, Jackson posted the fastest time of the day – 37.04 seconds – and then had to wait to see if it would hold up.

“I am a very calm person anyway, so I was just waiting and watching,” she said. “There was nothing I could do.”

ERIN JACKSON takes the lead with this speed! #WinterOlympics | #Olympics pic.twitter.com/9CxiOo7b7L

— On Her Turf (@OnHerTurf) February 13, 2022

When the final duo crossed the line, Jackson’s gold medal was confirmed. With the win, she breaks numerous records:

Japan’s Takagi Miho won silver (0.08 seconds behind Jackson), her sixth career Olympic medal, while Angelina Golikova of the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) claimed her first Olympic medal, a bronze.

Erin Jackson entered January’s U.S. Olympic Trials as the best women’s 500m speed skater in the world, but a slip in her marquee event almost cost her a ticket to the Olympics.

In the backstretch of her 500m race, Jackson caught a bad edge, causing her to stumble. She managed to stay on her feet, and crossed the line in 38.24 seconds, a remarkable time given the bobble. But once all was said and done, Jackson found herself in third place behind Brittany Bowe and Kimi Goetz. Because the U.S. only initially qualified two spots in the women’s 500m, Jackson was