After becoming the first Black woman to ever win gold in an individual event at the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, speed skater Erin Jackson is officially returning for Team USA at this year’s Winter Olympics in Milan — and she’s doing so with the same course-altering support system by her side.
Ahead of the 33-year-old Olympian joining Team USA in Italy when the global sporting event kicks off in February, Jackson opened up to Women’s Health about navigating imposter syndrome after her historic 500-meter win and the teammate who’s been in her corner from the very start.
“I was struggling with some feelings of imposter syndrome,” Jackson, who also has 13 World Championship medals, admitted. “I felt that I hadn’t been in the sport long enough to have achieved something like this. It was weighing on me.”
She added that her teammate, and fellow Florida native, Brittany Bowe, helped her through that moment of self-doubt.
“Brittany was really quick to talk me through those feelings and reassure me that I had put in the work and I did deserve this,” she explained.
Bowe didn’t just champion Jackson during the Olympics; she played a major role in making Jackson’s historic moment possible. During qualifying events, Jackson stumbled in the 500-meter. But Bowe offered her own qualifying spot so Jackson could still compete, an incredibly generous move that ultimately made way for a groundbreaking win.
Bowe told the publication that Jackson, whom she’s known since she was a teen, was “far more deserving than I was in that event.”
And now, the two are returning with that same bond this year.
For the 2026 Olympics, the speed skaters are gearing up to compete in the 1000-meter event, while Jackson will also defend her 500-meter title. Bowe, meanwhile, will compete in the 1500-meter race.
And even with both women chasing podium spots, Jackson said their mindset remains the same.
“Until we’re at the top of the podium [as] one and two, we’re just trying to help each other get to that point, and then we can fight it out for those top two positions,” Jackson said. “It’s more about getting stronger together as a team.”
