Erin Jackson has been training on ice for only four months. Four months of insanely dedicated training, to be fair. But four months nonetheless. And the culmination of that four months for Jackson? She has become the first African American long-track speed skater to make an Olympic team for the United States. Jackson is no stranger to speed skating -- just not on ice. She was an inline skating star before deciding to pursue he Olympic dream on the ice. Still, the idea of someone being an Olympian after mere months of training in a whole new subculture is insane.
Jackson appeared on "The Jim Rome Show" to give her account of her experience. When Rome asked her about her path, Jackson was earnest. "Yeah, it's crazy, like, this was kind of [sic] a long term goal of mine," Jackson said. "I was coming into the Olympic trials this year just hoping to get some experience and, like, kind of see where I am after the time I've had on the ice. And I was always planning to like, stick around for the next cycle. So yeah, it was definitely a goal of mine to be on Team USA I just didn't see it happening this quickly."
Jackson earned the spot by taking third place in a 500-meter race alongside Heather Bergsma and Brittany Bowe at the U.S. Speedskating trials in Milwaukee. She finished the race in 39.04 seconds. The 25-year-old Floridian's rise is something out of storybooks, and the recency is not lost on her. When she was asked about how she decided to get into long-track speed skating, she made it sounded like something she just wanted to do and, so, did.
"...There's been a trickle of inline skaters over to the ice just because there are more opportunities and inline skating isn't an Olympic sport," Jackson explained. "So if you want to chase your Olympic dreams you have to switch over to the ice. So I've always kind of had that in the back of my head like at some point that could be something that I wanted to do."
Jackson's academics also contributed to her timing.
"The main thing is that I'm also ... big with academics and all that so I really wanted to finish my degree [and] graduate college before I thought about doing anything with ice. So, um, I graduated in 2015 and took a little time to myself and then figured, OK, I guess it's time."
Jackson will have the opportunity to compete among the best in the world come February. These Olympics will continue to be part of her training and experience in the ice long-track skating world -- but she's clearly already far surpassed expectations.
