Team USA Flag Bearer Erin Jackson Readies For A Third Olympics That Already Promises To Be Much Different From The First Two

Athletes who compete in multiple Olympic or Paralympic Games often say that no two experiences are ever the same.

That’s certainly true for speed skater Erin Jackson. Her Olympic debut at the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang, South Korea, was, as she described it, a “whirlwind of experience” ending with a 24th-place finish in the Women’s 500m. Four years later in Beijing she stood atop the podium in the same event, becoming the first Black woman to win an individual Gold medal at the Winter Olympics.

Now she’s on the precipice of her third Olympics in Milano Cortina, and this time she will enter not only as a reigning champion but also as Team USA’s flag bearer.

“It’s a really big honor, and I’m super grateful, especially being chosen by my teammates,” Jackson said during a press conference this week. “Just walking out into the Opening Ceremony without carrying the flag is already this amazing feeling.” 

Jackson learned the news shortly after taking the ice for practice in Milan. 

“Our coach kind of sat us down on the ice and then announced it to the team, and it was just a really cool moment,” she said. 

The 33-year-old who, like many speed skaters including Olympic teammate and fellow Ocala, Florida, native Brittany Bowe, started off as an inline skater before transitioning to ice, will share flag bearer responsibilities with bobsledder and U.S. Army Sergeant Frank Del Duca.

Jackson revealed during an interview on NBC’s “Today” show that she ran into one of her teammates in the cafeteria in the Olympic Village who told her he’d been “voting for you like crazy.”

“It means so much,” she said.  

Jackson has dealt with several injuries over the course of this season. She has three herniated discs in her lower back that have changed her training and preparation for this season, and she also tore a hamstring in December. 

Yet Jackson remains optimistic. 

“A lot has changed over the years, especially me getting older in my field,” she said. “I’m the oldest person in my event. Everyone else is in their mid-20s, and I’m 33 now. But I’m feeling super confident and excited to give it another go.”

Jackson’s also excited to add the 1000m to her competition slate this year. Despite being fresh off the hamstring injury, she defeated teammate and World Record-holder Bowe in the event at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials at the beginning of January to qualify for that race in Italy. Bowe, who holds the second slot in the event, was the flag bearer in Beijing and will retire after these Olympics.

Jackson told “Today” that it was “hard to say” whether she liked going into the Olympics chasing Gold or defending Gold better.

“I think both are really awesome,” she said. “I think I like the variety. I think I’m really excited to be the defending champion and hopefully I can make good on that and come home with another one.”

Jackson and Bowe are two parts of a formidable U.S. squad that also includes 21-year-old Jordan Stolz, who has won multiple World Championships and set several World Records since making his Olympic debut as a teenager in 2022. 

“It’s really exciting the team we have this year,” Jackson said. “We have a really strong team in almost every distance. Right and left, we have so many people who are able to get on the podium, and I’m really excited for all my teammates. I think it’s going to be a really good one.”

She’s also happy that teammates such as Stoltz, who made their Olympic debuts four years ago when only residents of China were allowed to spectate because of COVID-19 regulations, and first-time Olympians will get to experience the Games in front of international crowds including their family and friends.

“I don’t really get nervous too much having a crowd; I think it excites me and pushes me,” she said. “The crowd brings a lot of fun energy, and it’s awesome to be able to look up and see your family and friends.”

Karen Price is a reporter from Pittsburgh who has covered Olympic and Paralympic sports for various publications. She is a freelance contributor to US Speedskating on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.