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BEIJING – 4 years in the past, Erin Jackson was simply pleased to be right here.
On Sunday evening, she was celebrating gold.
The 29-year-old former inline skater gained the ladies’s 500 meters on the Nationwide Velocity Skating Oval with a time of 37.04, incomes her first Olympic medal in what has been her finest occasion. She additionally makes historical past as the primary Black girl to win an Olympic medal in speedskating, based on The Related Press.
Jackson arrived in Beijing because the top-ranked skater on the earth within the 500 however, in a accident, nearly did not make it right here within the first place.
An uncommon slip throughout her race on the U.S. Olympic trials left her in third place, with solely two People assured to qualify. In a heartwarming gesture, teammate Brittany Bowe, who completed forward of Jackson however doesn’t contemplate the five hundred to be her finest occasion, agreed to forfeit her spot on the crew to permit Jackson to compete.
(The U.S. later obtained a 3rd quota spot on the distance, enabling Bowe to compete as effectively.)
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Each Jackson and Bowe initially began out as inline speedskaters in Ocala, Florida – a city of about 60,000 folks between Orlando and Gainesville that doesn’t have a year-round ice rink. Each ultimately switched to ice in hopes of in the future making it to the Olympics. (One other U.S. speedskater, Joey Mantia, can be from Ocala and began out as a skater on pavement and concrete.)
For Jackson, the transfer to ice didn’t come till simply 5 years in the past, after she graduated from the College of Florida with an engineering diploma.
After prioritizing her schooling for a lot of her life, Jackson determined to provide the ice a attempt as a result of she did not need to be left questioning “what if.” She surprisingly certified for the Olympic crew in 2018 however completed effectively outdoors medal competition on the Pyeongchang Video games.
Contact Tom Schad at tschad@usatoday.com or on Twitter @Tom_Schad.
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