Erin Jackson

Hobbies	Watching television, travel, bowling. (teamusa.org, 21 Dec 2020; burnitalldownpod.com, 08 Feb 2018)
Other sports	She competed in roller derby for the Ocala Cannibals and Jacksonville RollerGirls in the United States of America. She has also competed in roller speed skating at international level, winning gold in the one lap sprint at the 2022 World Skate Games in Buenos Aires, Argentina. (SportsDeskOnline, 17 Jan 2018; olympics.nbcsports.com, 05 Jan 2018; Instagram profile, 04 Nov 2022)

Reason for choosing this sport

A keen roller skater, she began inline skating after her mother met inline speed skating coach Renee Hildebrand. "My mum said, 'Oh, my daughter loves to skate', and so she invited me to a party at the skating rink. I did a little race in my figure skates and joined the team from there." She switched to the ice because she wanted to compete at the Olympic Winter Games. "Inline skating is not an Olympic sport."

Awards and honours

She received the 2022 Eric Heiden Athlete of the Year award from US Speedskating. (teamusa.org, 01 Apr 2022) In 2022 she was inducted into the Black History Museum of Marion County's Hall of Fame in Ocala, FL, United States of America. (ocala.com, 26 Mar 2022) In 2022 she was named Olympic Female Athlete of the Year at the State Sports Awards in Utah, United States of America. (Instagram profile, 18 Apr 2022) She was named the United States Olympic Committee [USOC] Female Athlete of the Year for Roller Sports in 2012, 2013 and 2015. (Athlete Website, 08 Jan 2018)

Name of coach	Ryan Shimabukuro [national], USA
When and where did you begin this sport?	She began roller skating at age eight and first tried speed skating in 2017 at the Utah Olympic Oval in the United States of America.

Nicknames	Ms Jax'em (Facebook profile, 12 Jan 2021)
Sporting philosophy / motto	"Perfection is not attainable, but if we chase perfection we can catch excellence." [Vince Lombardi] (Athlete, 16 Nov 2019)
Other information	SECOND CHANCE She finished third in the 500m at the 2022 US Olympic Trials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, after slipping during the race, and missed out on the two qualification berths available. However, her teammate Brittany Bowe, who won the event at the US Trials, ceded her place to Jackson, claiming she had a greater chance of winning gold in the event at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games. Both Jackson and Bowe were ultimately able to skate in the 500m in Beijing after the US were granted an extra qualification spot. Jackson went on to win gold in the 500m, while Bowe placed 16th. "I was expecting to win the Olympic Trials. So then to have that misstep was kind of devastating, you know, because I was looking forward to having a good race. I'm incredibly grateful and humbled by the kindness of Brittany in helping me to secure a chance at reaching my goals. She's an amazing friend, teammate, and mentor and this is an act I'll never forget. I've known that Britt was an amazing person for years. It's hard to imagine if someone would give up an Olympic spot for you. So just seeing that and just really kind of being reaffirmed in my thoughts of her for all these years that like the bond is there and it's awesome." (olympics.com, 28 Jan 2022; Instagram profile, 10 Jan 2022) ROLE MODEL She hopes to help increase racial diversity in speed skating by being a role model in the sport. "I realise people kind of look to people who look like them, in terms of what they feel like they can do, so when people watch the Olympic Winter Games and roller derby and other forms of skating, they might not see a lot of people of colour out there. I'm looking forward to being one of those people that other young kids and people of colour can look to and say, 'Hey, she's out there doing it so we have some representation'." (burnitalldownpod.com, 08 Feb 2018) FURTHER EDUCATION In addition to a bachelor's degree in materials science and engineering at the University of Florida, she has studied for associate's degrees in computer science and exercise science at Salt Lake Community College in Utah, United States of America. Her associate's degree studies were facilitated by a partnership between US Speed Skating and Salt Lake Community College that allows athletes to take tuition-free classes. "Maybe going to school is a hobby for me. When I first moved here [Salt Lake City] I wasn't going to school and I felt like I had a whole lot of free time. I felt like I wasn't being very productive, so when the programme became available I started taking classes again. I feel more productive when I have more to do. If I don't have enough on my plate then I do nothing, so I try to find the balance where it's enough to keep me busy but not interfering with my training. Plus I just really like learning." (teamusa.org, 21 Dec 2020) QUICK RESULTS She qualified for the 2018 Olympic Winter Games having only taken up speed skating in September 2017 as part of the International Skating Union [ISU] Development Transition Program. The scheme aims to help athletes from other sports, such as ice hockey and inline skating, adapt to speed skating. "I really wasn't expecting any of this, just coming in as a newbie, just trying to do the best I can. I was coming into the Olympic trials just hoping to get some experience and see where I am after the time I've had on the ice. It was definitely a goal of mine to be on Team USA. I just didn't see it happening this quickly." (cosmopolitan.com, 11 Jan 2018)

erin-jackson.net
www.facebook.com/ErinJackson480
twitter.com/ErinJackson480

Memorable sporting achievement	Winning gold in the 500m at the 2022 Olympic Winter Games in Beijing. (Instagram profile, 13 Feb 2022)
Most influential person in career	Inline speed skating coach Renee Hildebrand, and her father. (Athlete, 16 Nov 2019)
Injuries	In March 2023 she underwent surgery to remove 16 fibroids [non-cancerous growths] from her uterus. (Instagram profile, 18 Mar 2023) In January 2021 she sustained corneal abrasion, retinal whitening, whiplash of the eye and hyphema [bleeding in the eye] after a bungee cord hook snapped back and became lodged in her eye. After examination by three doctors, it was expected that her vision would not be impacted long-term. She postponed travelling to the Netherlands ahead of the 2021 World Championships in Heerenveen, but was back on the ice two weeks after the accident. (Instagram profile, 04 Jan 2021, 20 Jan 2021) In 2019 she sustained three herniated discs and was out of action for two months. (Athlete, 16 Nov 2019)
Hero / Idol	US speed skater Brittany Bowe. (Athlete, 16 Nov 2019)
Ambitions	To win gold at the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Milan-Cortina. (tmj4.com, 30 Sep 2022)

Training Regime

She trains at the Utah Olympic Oval in Kearns, UT, United States of America.