It’s taken 98 years but it’s finally happened: a Black woman has won individual Winter Olympic gold!
Erin Jackson won in the women’s 500-meter speed skating on Sunday and made history in the process. She also joins 1988 bronze medallist Debi Thomas as the second Black woman to win an individual medal at the Winter Games, and the third Black athlete of any gender, alongside fellow speed skater Shani Davis who won individual gold in 2006.
To put this achievement into perspective, Jackson took up speed skating in 2016, finished 24th in the 500-meter event in PyeongChang 4 years ago and now has Olympic gold in Beijing. Now that’s what I call Black girl magic!
Hopefully, I’ll find a video of her crossing the line.
And speaking of Black female Olympians, shout out to Alice Dearing, the first Black female swimmer to represent Team GB at the Olympics.