Erin Jackson’s Thrilling Gold-Medal Finish At Beijing Olympics Has Her Setting Sights On 2026 Winter Games

After the exhilaration—and stress and pressure—of the Olympics, many athletes don’t immediately know if they want to do it all again four years later.

But not Erin Jackson.

The 29-year-old speedskater and two-time Olympian, who won her first-ever Olympic medal when she took gold in the women’s 500-meter race in Beijing, is only hungry for more.

After all, the Florida native who grew up competing in inline skating only started skating on ice for the first time at the age of 25. She qualified for the 2018 Olympics despite only taking up the sport about a year prior, finishing 24th in the 500m.

But a growing sense of comfort on the ice and continuing to hone her technique have allowed Jackson to become one of the best in the world. And she’s just getting started.

“I’m definitely planning to go for 2026,” Jackson told me by phone after she returned home from the Olympics. “It’s only been really a season and a half of feeling better on the ice, getting more of that comfort. I can’t really stop now; I’m just starting to figure it out!”

Jackson says the “big jump” in her skating really only came last season. She worked closely with her coach, Ryan Shimabukuro—who was especially helpful with video review—on her technique, improving things like sitting extra deep with more knee bend, wasting less energy and getting better position in the corners.

Jackson was one of six Americans to win an individual gold medal in Beijing. (The U.S. had eight gold medals total, thanks to its wins in mixed team snowboardcross and mixed team aerials.) Her teammate, Brittany Bowe, earned the United States’ only other individual speedskating medal, bronze in the women’s 1000m.

Jackson had won four of eight World Cup races in the 500m this season and skated her way to a No. 1 world ranking in that event. But at the Olympic Trials in Milwaukee, Jackson slipped in the 500m race, finishing in third place. Only a top-two finish guaranteed qualification.

Bowe, who had finished first in the 500m, knew her best chances to medal at the Beijing Games were in the 1000m and 1500m, so she relinquished her qualification spot in the 500m to Jackson. (Bowe later qualified for the 500m after all when the U.S. received an additional quota spot.)

That embodiment of Olympic spirit earned both women medals.

“It’s hard to imagine someone doing something so big for you, and it was just really moving for someone to have that much faith in me,” Jackson said. “I was really grateful and I’m excited for the world to see what an amazing person she is. The outpouring of support she’s received for that has been awesome.”

When Jackson took gold in the 500m, she and Bowe shared a tearful embrace. By the time Bowe won her medal, Jackson had already landed back stateside. She sent her teammate a voice message congratulating her.

Jackson hasn’t been home yet. Following a whirlwind media tour to talk about her experience in Beijing, she’ll be rejoining her team to finish out the rest of the speedskating season. Races in Norway and the Netherlands are on the docket.

After the season wraps, she’s looking forward to seeing her dad, as well reuniting with her two cats and her dog, Winnie, back at home in Salt Lake City, where Jackson moved to train.

Currently getting her associate’s degree in kinesiology, Jackson also wants to pursue a master’s in biomechanics. Her undergraduate degree is in materials engineering, and when she’s retired from speedskating, she hopes to continue on with sponsor Toyota and work on their tech projects related to mobility and freedom of movement.

But she can’t even contemplate retirement right now. The shiny gold medal hanging around her neck reminds her of how much she can still accomplish in this sport.

“It still hasn’t quite hit me I guess,” Jackson said. “It’s been amazing and it’s just even cooler than I thought it would be in the short time I’ve been able to imagine it. Before November, it didn’t really seem possible. I was like, ‘It would be really awesome to be able to get close to getting a medal at the Olympics.’”

Jackson’s gold medal is a milestone for U.S. speedskating—both on and off the ice.

Hers was the first individual gold medal for the U.S. in long track speedskating since Shani Davis won in 2010—and the first for an American woman since Chris Witty in 2002. In the 500m specifically, Jackson was the first U.S. woman to win since Bonnie Blair in 1994.

Even more, Jackson is the first Black woman to win a gold medal in an individual event at the Winter Olympics. In 2022, that seems hard to believe. But when Jackson’s done, a whole new generation of girls will be inspired to hit the ice.

“It feels like a good responsibility, you know? I always want to be a good example whenever I can,” Jackson said.

Her palpable elation at winning gold and sheer relatability—at the medal ceremony, she was crying so hard she accidentally put her medal on backwards—have made her an overnight star.

In fact, according to Twitter communications, @ErinJackson480 was the fifth-most-tweeted-about account throughout the entire Games; among athlete accounts, Jackson’s was second, behind only Shaun White. (The others were Nathan Chen, Mikaela Shiffrin and Chloe Kim.)

Jackson would be honored if any young girls who watched her compete in Beijing were inspired to try speedskating—or any competitive sport. Her main piece of advice: If you feel like something is too hard to accomplish or to start working on, the main thing is to take that first step. Don’t think about it as a whole.

For Jackson, that was taking her first step onto the ice. She accepted any opportunity to improve she could—even if that meant attending learn to skate classes with little kids. “If I could, I’d like to inspire even one other person to try whatever it is they’re thinking about trying,” she said.

“It was relatively late for me to be starting a new sport; I was 25 when I made the switch,” Jackson said. “But it’s never too late to start your impossible.”