Erin Jackson remembers the day she met Brittany Bowe very clearly.
The year was 2002. Jackson, then about 10 years old, competed in artistic skating (a sport she described as “figure skating on roller skates”) at a local rink in her hometown of Ocala, Florida. Bowe, who was 14 at the time, competed in inline skating at the same rink. In August of that year, she earned a silver medal at the inline world championships — her first of an eventual 21 medals she earned as a junior competitor.
When Bowe and the rest of the inline skaters from Ocala — a group which included future speed skating Olympic medalist Joey Mantia — returned home after worlds, the rink held a reception in their honor, welcoming them and congratulating them on their 22 medals from the competition (a figure second only to Colombia’s 29).
“I showed up to this event wearing my little artistic skates, … and I got a picture with Brittany Bowe and … Joey Mantia,” Jackson told NBCOlympics.com at the USOPC Team USA Media Summit in October. “My first introduction to inline speed skating was at that event.”
Jackson made the switch from artistic to inline later that year, skating her way to multiple accolades of her own over the next several seasons. Meanwhile, she watched as Bowe dominated nearly every athletic circle she entered from the senior inline circuit, to college basketball, to speed skating, which she picked up after the 2010 Olympics.
In her first five seasons as a speed skater, Bowe broke three world records (2 in the 1000m, 1 in the 1500m), lowered seven national records, and collected a total of 46 World Cup medals.
In 2017, Jackson followed Bowe’s lead once again. After trying a pair of speed skates for the first time in February, Jackson officially made her transition from the track to the ice in September. Four months later, she qualified for her first Olympic team alongside Bowe, who would make her second Olympic appearance in Beijing.
Over the ensuing four years, Bowe and Jackson trained together with the rest of the U.S. squad in Salt Lake City, Utah, leaning on each other for advice and support. Ahead of the 2022 Beijing Olympics, both were on top of their game. Just three years after Jackson first tried on a pair of ice skates, she had risen to the top of the global ranks in the 500m. Bowe owned the same position in the 1000m and 2nd in the 1500m behind Japan’s Miho Takagi.
Then, at the U.S. Olympic Trials in January 2022, disaster struck.
Bowe had won both of her signature events, punching her ticket to her third Olympics. Jackson was poised to do the same in the 500m until a costly slip landed her in 3rd place, just one spot shy of the Olympic team. Bowe won that distance, too, earning a berth in a third event for Beijing.
It didn’t take long for Bowe to decide her next move. Knowing Jackson likely would win gold in Beijing, Bowe relinquished her spot in the 500m, opening it up to Jackson for the taking.
“The beautiful thing about long track speed skating is the fastest people get to go. You don’t have to step aside for anyone — that was just what was morally right, in my opinion,” Bowe said. “For me, I always try to pride myself on being a good person, teammate, leader, and knowing sometimes when [to] give this other person an opportunity, this person is better for the job.”
As it turned out, Bowe had made the correct move. Jackson did win the 500m title in Beijing, becoming the first American woman to win the event since Bonnie Blair in 1994.
The strength of their friendship (and the results which came of it) drew attention from all over, but they each knew the potential reward would extend far beyond individual Olympic glory. They saw an opportunity to shed light on their niche sport, to honor their country in the best way, and to bring more diversity to the Olympic stage, and seized it.
In 2018, Jackson joined short track skater Maame Biney as the first two Black women to compete on a U.S. Olympic speed skating team. With her gold in Beijing, Jackson then became the first Black woman to win an individual Winter Olympic gold and the first Black American woman to win a medal in speed skating.
“What Erin did in Beijing was monumental, not just for our sport, but for women in general,” Bowe said.”
Shortly following Jackson’s success in Beijing, she began working with an organization called Edge Outdoors, a non-profit based in Seattle, Washington, which provides scholarship opportunities to women of color who want to try sports like skiing and snowboarding. Jackson serves on the application review board.
Though retirement isn’t on the horizon for her currently, Jackson already knows how she’d like to spend it, thanks to her work with Edge Outdoors. Her hope is to start her own organization which offers financial assistance for young Black athletes looking to try their hand at speed skating. Good quality skate blades often cost several hundred dollars, posing a very real barrier for entry into the sport.
“I think representation is super important because it helps to see someone like you achieving something, and we haven’t typically had that in winter sports, and speed skating, specifically. I really take on the responsibility with pride of being a face that others can look to and maybe get out and try the sports,” Jackson said. “I want to do whatever I can to make the magic happen for others.”
For Bowe, who is gay, being a role model for marginalized communities long has been top-of-mind. Having grown up in a small, conservative town in Florida, she knows how it feels to be uncomfortable with her identity and grow anxious as she enters unknown spaces.
Her goal, she said, is to make those spaces more welcoming to those who often have been excluded.
“I think it’s important for me to use my platform to inspire people from all walks of life. The great story of myself and Erin — … just to be a part of that, giving this Black woman an opportunity to do something that’s never been done before, and just being a small piece of her puzzle is another realization that life is just bigger, so much bigger, than yourself,” Bowe said. “What really matters is the impact you have on everyone around you because, at the end of the day, no one’s going to remember your results, but everyone’s going to remember how you treated them and how you made them feel.”
As the oldest member of the U.S. speed skating team, Bowe has slipped into another mentorship role — not only to the younger members of Team USA, but to women around the world. Despite her age, she remains one of the best speed skaters on the World Cup circuit, consistently placing in the top six in her individual races and lowering two national records in the team pursuit this season. She belongs to a growing contingent of older women athletes — a group comprising icons like Lindsey Vonn, Elana Myers Taylor, and even Bowe’s partner, Hilary Knight — who are confronting the restrictive limits historically placed on women in all kinds of careers, but especially in athletics.
“They’re showing the world that they are strong and capable and — I didn’t want to say an improper term — B. A. women. I think it’s really amazing,” Jackson said. “It’s really cool to see them giving back to the sport because sometimes, … when [the old guard moves] out, sometimes you don’t have someone to teach the next generation, so it’s really nice to see them sticking around and giving back and giving all of us someone to chase.”
But after 16 years as a speed skater and 24 years spent in various competition circuits, Bowe plans to hang up her skates at the end of this season.
“This will be my fourth Olympic Games. I will be turning 38 at the Olympics, and in the sports world, I’m like the old lady now,” Bowe said. “I have been so blessed to have such a long, successful career, and for me, it’s just time. I’m excited for what life will look like next. What that looks like, I have no idea, but I’m just grateful to be able to end on my terms.”
With teammate Mia Manganello also planning to retire following the 2026 Games, Jackson will take over Bowe’s role as the oldest and most experienced member of the United States’ speed skating team. Those are some big shoes to fill, but Jackson said she's ready to take on the challenge.
“I’m always super excited just showing up to practice with my younger teammates. They’re looking so strong this year, and I think it’s going to be an amazing year for U.S. speed skating, so I hope everyone’s going to tune in.”
In February, the duo will compete in their third and final Olympics together — Jackson in the 500m and 1000m, and Bowe in the 1000m, 1500m, and team pursuit — as two pieces of what could be the most prolific American Olympic speed skating team since 2006. During those Games, also held in Italy, the U.S. men landed on every podium except the team pursuit.
Both Jackson and Bowe have lofty goals for the competition in Milan Cortina. Bowe hopes to end her career on a high note by bringing home her first Olympic silver or gold. Though Jackson has spent the last three years battling a series of significant health issues, she earned the last two overall World Cup titles in her signature sprint and remains a serious threat to a deep Dutch field led by world record holder Femke Kok. She finished the 2025-26 World Cup as the World No. 3 in the distance.
Regardless of their results in February, Jackson and Bowe undeniably have left a legacy of generosity not only in the speed skating world, but the broader Olympic and athletic ones, as well. It’s one of their most cherished accomplishments — and one they couldn’t have earned without each other.
“It’s been pretty amazing having Brittany to look up to pretty much my whole life … I just thought it was the coolest thing that she was this world champion, winning races all around the world, but then she would come home and skate on my team,” Jackson said. “It’s just been really cool to have her as a mentor and a lifelong friend. I’m pretty lucky.”
