Erin Jackson's skating sped her up to role model status.
The 29-year-old athlete became the first Black American woman to ever win an Olympic medal for speed skating, according to NBC Sports, when she placed first in the women's 500m race at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics on Sunday, Feb. 13.
After the victory, she told E! News why she hopes her win will inspire Black girls to follow their dreams. Erin shared, "If, for example, one young Black girl happened to see me out there racing and winning a gold medal…if one girl can be inspired by that to go out there and maybe chase her dreams—whether it's in winter sports or anything in general—then I'd call that a win."
The trailblazer said she wants her success to not just be a "good example," but to also lead to more opportunities for increased diversity in the U.S. for winter sports. She continued, "It means a lot and hopefully it can be a big jumping off point for the program and maybe for all the winter programs."
Skating in at 37.04 seconds, Erin beat Japan's Miho Takagi by 0.08 seconds. She almost didn't compete after slipping in her qualifying trials, but teammate Brittany Bowe gave up her spot for Erin to compete in Beijing. The decision resulted in a historic win for Team USA.
After taking the gold medal, she said she went back to Brittany to celebrate with tears. "We've done a lot of crying, a lot of hugging," Erin recalled. "She's told me how proud she is of me and I've told her, 'We did it.'"
Erin acknowledged the risk they both took in the decision, but said it paid off, adding that she hopes that Brittany will also leave Beijing with a win of her own.
"We did what we set out to do," she said. "It's been great. I'm just glad that she put her faith in me and I was able to deliver on it. And now I'm just hoping that she's going to end out the games with a gold medal around her neck."
In addition to being the first Black American woman to win a medal in the sport, she is also the first American to win the event since 1994, per NBC.
Luckily, she said her historic win will not slow her down nor add too much pressure. "I don't know if I'd call it pressure, just more like motivation," she explained. "If anything, pressure is something that I kind of need to really give me that extra little push."
As she travels from the icy Beijing Winter Olympics back to her family in sunny Florida, she said she looks forward to giving her dad and pets "big hugs."
Looking ahead at the impact her skating will have on Black women in the U.S. and the future of Team USA, she said, "It feels great and I hope that it's a big motivation, a big booster for Team USA and hopefully we can keep bringing in some more medals."
Catch up on all the news from the 2022 Olympics on Peacock and NBC.
(E!, NBC and Peacock are all part of the NBCUniversal family.)