Erin Jackson on Olympic challenges and growth
Speed skater Erin Jackson shares how each Olympic experience shaped her career and how she embraces the pressure.
Sports Seriously
MILAN – There was no victory lap for U.S. speed skater Erin Jackson.
Only a warm-down lap.
With a chance to defend her Olympic title in 500 meters, Jackson finished fifth on Sunday, Feb. 15 at the 2026 Winter Olympics.
Femke Kok, the world record holder at 500 meters from the Netherlands, won the gold medal while setting an Olympic record with a time of 36.49. Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands won the silver medal, and Miho Takagi of Japan won the bronze.
Jackson, 33, got off to exceptional start but stumbled on the backstretch. That miscue might have cost her a medal as she finished .05 behind Takagi.
“Before the race I was feeling really confident, really ready to go,” Jackson said. “Got off the line, probably the best I have ever. That was my fastest 100-meter opener. So I was really happy with that.”
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First corner felt great too, Jackson added. But then …
“The backstretch, my feet got away from me a little bit, had a little stumble going into the second corner, and then just finished as strong as I could.”
Jackson said she was expecting to medal and had not conceded the race to Kok.
“Femke has been the person to chase for the past few years,” Jackson said. “She’s just been amazing all throughout the season. So I was like, ‘OK, there’s still a chance if I have the perfect race, I could probably give her a run for her money.'”
But the stumble squelched any shot. It was not fast enough to reach the podium. Despite losing out on a medal, Jackson will never lose her place in history. At the 2022 Beijing Games, she became the first Black woman to win a gold medal in an individual event with her triumph in the women’s 500.
But that victory came during the pandemic without fans in the stands. This time she was racing with her father and many other relatives watching her at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium.
“I saw a lot of my family members all around the rink,” Jackson said. “And I think my dad was up with Snoop Dogg, so that’s really awesome. And then also my Uncle Mike, he’s been sending video messages through me back and forth with Snoop Dogg.
“So that’s been really fun and I’m glad that he finally got to meet him in person. … I bet they just had a grand old time. They probably weren’t even watching me.”
With that, Jackson smiled, as if momentarily forgetting that on the ice things did not go as planned.
