Erin Jackson: Winter Gold for a Gator

Yup. The only gator (and SEC alum) in the Winter Olympics ans she gets a gold medal. Awesome.

 

Awesome!
Congrats to her, a fine Gator.

 

Erin Jackson, who graduated from UF in 2015, will compete in the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. Photo provided by US Speedskating.

Jackson, 29, graduated from UF in 2015 with an engineering degree. She will be the only Gator and only athlete from the SEC competing at the Olympic Winter Games, which begin Feb. 4. The first long track races begin Feb. 5.

UF Alumna Erin Jackson on track to compete at 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing

The All Everything School - Yeah We Bad

 

And she is from Ocala.

 

Gators alumna Erin Jackson becomes first Black American woman to medal in speed skating

 

BY MELISSA LOCKER - TIME
FEBRUARY 11, 2022

When Team USA’s Erin Jackson slipped during a 500-m long-track speedskating trial, the athlete, who was ranked No. 1 in the world, thought her chance of competing at the 2022 Winter Olympic Games had slipped away, too. Then an unexpected act of generosity changed it all. Jackson’s long-time friend Brittany Bowe, who had finished first in the trial and qualified in other events, gave up her spot in the 500-m race so Jackson could compete.

For Bowe, it was an easy decision. “I thought she earned it and she deserved it,” Bowe said in an interview. Jackson was incredibly moved by her friend’s graciousness, but more than happy to accept, too, posting on Instagram that she was “incredibly grateful and humbled” by Bowe’s kindness. “She’s an amazing friend, teammate, and mentor and this is an act I’ll never forget. You can bet I’ll be the loudest voice in the oval cheering for her in the 1000 and 1500 next month,” Jackson wrote in an Instagram caption.

Now, the U.S. Olympic team has picked up an extra spot in the 500-m race and Bowe has been added to the roster for the event and will be able to compete alongside Jackson. “She’s an amazing person and amazing friend, an amazing teammate, and I’m so glad her good karma came back so quickly,” Jackson said on NBC ahead of the Opening Ceremony on Friday morning. It’s a fitting capstone to a friendship that has spanned decades.

“I grew up with Brittany,” Jackson told Team USA’s blog. “I have known her almost my whole life.” Jackson and Bowe both grew up in Ocala, Florida and trained on the same inline speed skating team there, coached by Renee Hildebrand, where they both earned accolades and won championships. Jackson is four years younger than Bowe and always looked up to her. So when Bowe transitioned to the ice Jackson paid attention. Bowe was very good on ice, too—representing the U.S. in the 2014 and 2018 Olympics and earning eight gold medals in world championship events.

The History of Speed Skaters Brittany Bowe’s and Erin Jackson's Friendship On And Off the Ice

https://www.tmj4.com/news/erin-jackson-help-brittany-bowe-eyes-speed-skating-gold

 

Jackson is looking to keep making history with her fresh opportunity. During the 2018 Winter Olympics in PyeongChang, she became the first Black woman to compete for the United States in long track speed skating. Last November, she was the first Black woman to win a World Cup speed skating race — the first of four World Cup wins that led her to the world’s top ranking heading into the Olympics.

“I hope I can be an example,” Jackson said. “I would love to see more people of color in all the winter sports. It helps to have some visibility out there, to see other people like you doing something maybe you’d never thought about doing before.”

 

No Chomp?

 

with greater future equality of opportunity she'll be far from the last

 

UF doesn't have an ice rink on campus, does it?

 

What an incredible story. Talk about sportsmanship and honor.

 

Betcha the Erin Jackson - Brittany Bowe story will be made into a movie very soon.
It's such a heartwarming story of friendship, sacrifice, hard work and success. It is a story of philia and even agape love.
Much needed in these dark and troubled times.

 

Check back with me in six months

 

Almost all the the world class speed skaters started as inline skaters. No ice required.

 

I can attest to all the info about how friendly and gracious she is. I met her several times at Forest High in Ocala and was impressed at her maturity as a teenager and how she carried herself. I don't want to say you could tell she was going to make it someday but she stood out in the leadership class of students there. She was always calm and sincere when she talked with others.