The weight of expectation followed Erin Jackson to the starting line in Milan. Arriving at her third Olympic Games as the reigning champion carried not only the hopes of her nation but also a history-making legacy on her shoulders. However, with the pressure of the competition, her Olympic experience has been unique.

Talking to EssentiallySports representative Shreya Verma, Jackson opened up about the presence of Snoop Dogg at the event. “Yeah, I think it’s really cool having him here supporting Team USA,” she said and went on to reveal an interesting detail. “He’s actually had a little bit of a long-distance friendship with my Uncle Mike. It’s been kind of funny. They’ve been sending each other video messages through me.”

So, Snoop Dogg has been serving as Team USA’s honorary coach as well as a special correspondent for NBC. And while having his time in Milan, he reunited with one of his old friends.

“Yeah, so it’s kind of a funny little thing over the last couple of months. But, yeah, it was great for them to finally be able to meet here in Milan. So they finally got to, I don’t know, have the official friendship. So, yeah, it was really funny seeing their interactions here,” she said.

But beyond the celebrity cameos and podium pursuits, Erin Jackson is already thinking about the imprint she will leave on her sport long after her skates are hung up. When asked about her legacy, she shared her perspective, stating, “I would say probably as someone who wants to help grow the sport, someone who wants to give back and kind of, yeah, pay things forward, right?”

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She added, “So one of my main goals is to get more visibility and access and just get more people into the sport. Because one of the main barriers with winter sports in general, especially speed skating, is just the cost, right?”

It’s not new for Jackson to address a major issue that looms over her sport. She has previously acknowledged that her own path might have been impossible without the support system she found.

“The main barrier to entry for winter sports is cost. I honestly don’t know if I would have been able to continue in [speed skating] if I didn’t make the 2018 Olympic Team. Without those benefits, I couldn’t have afforded to keep training. So I’m looking forward to hopefully having more minorities involved in winter sports as soon as possible, and to ease the financial burden by creating more scholarship programs,” she told Time Magazine earlier this year.

Her vision for change is both practical and personal, as she wants to raise a scholarship program or fundraising initiative that could ease the entry for the next generation.

“So if there’s something I can do, like I really want to start an organization that’s like a fundraiser or a scholarship program to get people started in the sport. Because, yeah, it can seem like, you know, just getting started can be really hard. So if I can do something to kind of lower that barrier, that would be great,” she said.

In the women’s 500m, Erin Jackson finished a mere 0.05 seconds behind the bronze medal. It was that close. She secured a time of 37.32, as Japan’s Miho Takagi took third place with 37.27. However, amidst that, she has found herself some time off to explore the Olympic village.

“The village is actually really nice. The rooms, they seem brand new. And it’s really cool because we have a communal space in the center of the village where we can all hang out as a team. And yeah, I love the village,” Jackson told us, about the usual atmosphere in Milan.

However, her journey to Milan was filled with obstacles rather than being just a clean rink.

A tough path for Erin Jackson

Since Erin Jackson’s historic gold in Beijing, when she became the first Black American to medal in speed skating, the 33-year-old has navigated injuries that required multiple surgical interventions.

A recurring back injury has haunted Jackson since 2019, requiring multiple procedures to address disc herniations. “I’ve been dealing with lower back injury for the past few years, especially this year, just having more flare-ups,” she once explained.

In March 2023, she underwent an operation to remove 16 non-cancerous fibroids from her uterus. Just as she fought back to form, a hamstring injury at the third World Cup stop forced her to scratch races and skate cautiously through the remainder of the season.

She is a fighter and kept herself resilient coming to the Winter Olympics. Her fifth-place finish wasn’t just another skating performance but an open testament to her champion resolve.