The fastest woman on ice, who is an Olympic gold medalist from Ocala, just added another two gold medals to her ever-growing collection after dominating her races during a World Cup event in Poland this weekend.
Erin Jackson claimed victory in two 500-meter women’s speed skating races at the International Skating Union World Cup held at Arena Lodowa in Tomaszów Mazowiecki, Poland, from Friday, February 21, to Sunday, February 23.
In the first race, Jackson finished with a time of 38.08 seconds, beating second place by 0.09 seconds. In her second race, Jackson put up a faster time, coming in at 37.81 seconds and edging out second by 0.11 seconds.
Jackson, who set the track record at the arena in 2021 with a time of 37.55 seconds, told the ISU that the race had not gone according to plan.
“My opener was a bit slower than I wanted. I was talking to my coach before my race saying, ‘I want to see a 10.4 on the board today,’ and then I went the other direction and got a 10.6, but I made up for it in the lap,” said Jackson to ISU.
In the interview, Jackson noted the ongoing injury she has been dealing with and how it has impacted her season.
Despite missing the podium, Brittany Bowe, Jackson’s American teammate who also hails from Ocala and celebrated her 37th birthday on Monday, had strong showings in the 1,000-meter and 1,500-meter races at the event.
Bowe, who holds the world record (1:11.61) and track record (1:14.78) in the 1,000-meter distance, finished fifth in her race, just 0.24 seconds behind fourth, 0.27 seconds behind third, and 0.29 seconds behind second.
In her 1,500-meter race, Bowe came in 11th place and was the best-performing American female. She came in with a time of 1:59.73, which was about 3.06 seconds behind the winner.
The performances for Jackson and Bowe come amidst a stellar season on the ice. A few weeks ago, both speed skaters earned multiple medals at a World Cup event on their home turf in the United States.
Before that, the women were part of the United States team that claimed bronze during the ISU World Cup event in Beijing, where the American teammates both won Olympic medals in 2022.
Additionally, Bowe claimed gold in the 1000-meter women’s speed skating race at the ISU’s Four Continents Championships in Japan in November, while Jackson claimed gold in the 500-meter race at the same event.
Currently, Jackson sits atop the standings for the World Cup 500m distance, while Bowe is in second for the World Cup 1000m distance.
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating series is comprised of multiple events and races since. Skaters earn points at each competition and, at the end of the year, the skater who has accumulated the most points in a given distance is crowned the World Cup winner in that distance.
To read more about this weekend’s races, visit the ISU Skating webpage.
To keep up and support either of these Ocala athletes on their journeys, follow Brittany Bowe and Erin Jackson online.