Erin Jackson on Friday became the first black American woman to win a World Cup speedskating race, while China’s Gao Tingyu also claimed his first World Cup gold.
Jackson won the 500m at the season opener in Poland, finishing in 37.613 seconds, after a blistering start where she clocked a 10.39-second opener.
Defending Olympic champion Nao Kodaira of Japan was 0.13 seconds behind.
Photo: AP
“It’s still early in the season, of course. It’s like anyone’s game, but I’m going for the top,” Jackson said.
The field included all three medalists from the world championships in February, when Jackson did not compete. Her previous best World Cup finish was ninth.
She became the first black woman to qualify for a US Olympic long-track speedskating team in 2018, just four months after taking up the sport. Jackson finished 24th in the 500m at the Pyeongchang Games.
The 29-year-old skater from Ocala, Florida, who switched to the ice from inline skating and roller derby, did not compete internationally last season after an eye injury and after multiple people around her contracted COVID-19.
Jackson recorded her best times in a pair of 500m races in Salt Lake City last month at a World Cup qualifying meet. She defeated two-time Olympian Brittany Bowe in both races.
American Shani Davis is the most successful black male speedskater in history, winning four Olympic medals, including two golds.
China have never won gold in men’s Olympic speedskating and Gao was the country’s first medalist when he won bronze at the Pyeongchang Games.
In Poland, Gao finished with in 34.26 seconds to win gold, but brushed aside the World Cup victory saying that what mattered was winning an Olympic medal on home turf in February.
“I’m very excited about my first World Cup gold, but the main goal this season is to go to the podium of the Beijing Olympic Games,” Gao said.
The 23-year-old was 0.28 seconds ahead of Japan’s Tatsuya Shinhama, while Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil took the bronze.
“When you open 9.32 [seconds], then you have a pretty big lead, right? And it’s not like his lap is bad. His lap is as good as ours,” Dubreuil said.
“I expect him to win a lot of medals this fall, but we’ll see how it builds up throughout the year,” he added. “We all want to be better in February than we are now, but today he was extremely impressive.”
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