Photo via: NBC Olympics
If you didn’t already know, Black girl magic will be in full effect at the Winter Olympic Games.
From the Nigerian women’s bobsled team ( made up of Seun Adigun, Ngozi Onwumere and Akuonma Omega), who became the first African team to qualify in the bobsled category, to Maame Biney, who became the first Black woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympic speed skating team (with her short-track finish last month), to now Erin Jackson, who just made history as the first African American woman to qualify for the U.S. Olympic long track speed skating team.
On Friday, the 25-year-old former world class inline skater secured her spot on the team after coming in third in the 500-meter race at the U.S. Olympic Speed Skating Trials in Milwaukee. What makes this feat even more incredible is that Jackson has only been long track speed skating for four months.
History in Milwaukee! Erin Jackson has become the first African-American female long track Olympic speedskater! #WinterOlympics #BestOfUS pic.twitter.com/ngt0aSes5l
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) January 6, 2018
“I really wasn’t expecting any of this, just coming in as a newbie, just trying to do the best I can,” Sports Illustrated reports Jackson saying. “I still don’t even know.”
Photo credit: Stacy Revere/Getty Images
In 2002, Shani Davis paved the way for both Jackson and Biney when he became the first Black speed skater to qualify for the U.S. Olympic team. Now all three will be bringing Black excellence to the ice at the Games.
Congratulations, Erin! Thank you for showing us all that, with hard work and perseverance, the possibilities are endless.