The 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics events are in full swing. There have been many pivotal moments in this year\u2019s highly anticipated event. One incredible moment comes at a critical time during Black History Month. At just 29 years old, Erin Jackson set a historic achievement for becoming the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n
On Sunday, the Team USA member won the 500-meter event with an impressive time of 37.04 seconds, according to Team USA. This win was also a victory for the U.S. team since they haven\u2019t earned an individual medal in this event since 2010.<\/p>\n
Jackson almost didn\u2019t make the Olympic team due to an accidental slip during the qualification round. However, Jackson\u2019s teammate Brittany Bowe, who placed first in the Olympic trials, removed herself from the 500-meter event to ensure that her teammate would have the chance to compete in the Winter Olympics. Bowe had already qualified for the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter events, so she wanted to give her friend a chance to compete in at least one event as well.<\/p>\n
Jackson shared the \u201cflood of emotions\u201d she felt when Bowe gave up her spot, saying, \u201cyou don\u2019t really know what you feel.\u201d<\/p>\n
After her noble act, Bowe was still permitted to skate in the Olympic event after other spot arrangements from other countries. She finished the event at 16th place in 38.04 seconds.<\/p>\n
\u201cRight after the race, I knew that if it came down to me relinquishing my spot for her to be named on the team, I would do that because she deserves it,\u201d Bowe explained to the press.<\/p>\n
Although she\u2019s most known currently for being a speedskater, Jackson used to be an inline roller skate before she focused on the ice right before the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics. That year she and Shani Davis from the American team were the only Black athletes to earn medals for speedskating.<\/p>\n
In this year\u2019s event, Jackson completed the event a fraction of a second faster than top competitors Japan\u2019s Miho Takagi and Russian Olympic Committee\u2019s Angelina Golikova. That time fragment made a difference between the gold, silver, and bronze medals awarded.<\/p>\n
\u201cI cried immediately; it was just a big release of emotion. A lot of shock, a lot of relief and a lot of happiness. I haven\u2019t fully processed everything quite yet, but it just feels amazing,\u201d Jackson expressed to the press after the event, \u201cI had a little misstep on the backstretch, but I just tried to, I wouldn\u2019t say recover, because it wasn\u2019t anything big, but just tried to continue skating.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
At just 29 years old, Erin Jackson set a historic achievement for becoming the first Black woman to win a speedskating medal at the Winter Olympics.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":642,"featured_media":6220,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fbia_status":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1007],"tags":[954,1699,705,1696,83],"class_list":["post-6211","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sports","tag-black-history-month","tag-historic","tag-olympics","tag-speed-skating","tag-sports"],"yoast_head":"\n