As far as Olympic sports go, Florida is best known for its products in the summer games, whether that is track and field, swimming or gymnastics. But UF alumna Erin Jackson — the No. 1-ranked skater in the world — brought home some hardware in the 2022 Beijing Olympics, winning gold in the 500-meter speedskating event.
Jackson, who is 29-years-old and a 2015 graduate of the University of Florida, earned a time of 37.04 seconds, which was just 0.07 ahead of the pace of the next fastest time. With her gold medal, she becomes the first Black American woman to win a medal in a speed skating event.
ERIN JACKSON WINS GOLD IN THE 500m 🥇
She becomes the first Black American woman to win an Olympic speedskating medal 👏
(h/t @NBCOlympics) pic.twitter.com/yYMdDQid0a
— ESPN (@espn) February 13, 2022
Jackson almost missed the Olympics entirely. During the qualifiers, she slipped and failed to make the Games. However, her friend and teammate Brittany Bowe gave up her spot on the team for Jackson, who took full advantage of her second chance.
She becomes the second Florida alum to medal in the Olympics in the last 12 months, as star hurdler Grant Holloway took home the silver medal in the 110-meter hurdles in Tokyo last summer.
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