The Olympics have forever been the biggest sporting stage in the history of the world. Moreover, they are also the playground for athletic achievements that go down into history for eternity. USA’s Erin Jackson has just cemented her name in that history.

Jackson became the first American woman to win a medal in speedskating in twenty-eight years. She won the 500m speed skating event and came out victorious among the best in the world.

Erin Jackson etches her name in Olympic history

Even though Erin Jackson just won her first gold medal, she had almost missed the event. During the qualifying trials, Jackson had slipped up, which disqualified her from participating in the Beijing Winter Olympics 2022.

Thankfully, her teammate gave up her own spot in order to ensure that the World No. 1 could compete at the Olympics. Clearly, that decision has paid off dividends, and then some.

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29-year-old Erin Jackson has become the first woman since Bonnie Blair in 1994 to win a speedskating gold medal. Moreover, that is not all. Cementing her name further in the history books, Jackson is also the first-ever black woman to win an individual medal in Olympic speedskating!

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After winning the gold, Jackson shared that she “cried immediately”. Then, she described her emotions as “a lot of shock, a lot of relief, and a lot of happiness.”

“I haven’t processed everything quite yet, but it just feels amazing,” she expressed after her historic achievement.

Erin’s teammate gave up her spot to let her compete

Brittany Bowe, Erin Jackson’s teammate, gave up her 500m speedskating spot to let Erin compete after the latter missed out in qualifying owing to a misstep.

Bowe talked about having relinquished her spot for Jackson to compete instead of her. She explained that she knew right after the race (at the US trials last month) that she would let Jackson take her place.

“She deserves it,” Bowe had stated. Furthermore, for Brittany, “it was an honor to give her (Jackson) that spot for the opportunity to race for gold for Team USA”.

After Erin Jackson won the gold medal, Bowe and she embraced each other in joy. “She hugged me, said she is really proud of me, and I just said a lot of thank yous,” Jackson said.

Surely, this is stuff that dreams are made of. But for both Brittany and Erin, it is as real as it can be.

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