One day after becoming the first black woman from the US to win a World Cup speedskating race, Erin Jackson made it two in a row on Saturday.
The 29-year-old from Ocala, Florida, won the second 500m race at the season-opening meet in Poland, breaking her 24-hour-old track record with a time of 37.555 seconds.
On Friday, Jackson made history in the first 500m, taking the top spot in 37.613 seconds.
Photo: AP
In the two races, she defeated defending Olympic champion Nao Kodaira of Japan, who took second in the first 500m and settled for third in the second race.
On Saturday, the US picked up another gold when two-time Olympian Brittany Bowe won the women’s 1,000m in 1:14.786, more than a half-second ahead of runner-up Miho Takagi of Japan.
Another two-time Olympian, Joey Mantia, gave the US a third medal later on with a bronze in the men’s 1,500m.
Jackson, Bowe and Mantia are all from Ocala, a central Florida city that has become an unlikely hotbed for the US speedskating program.
Jackson switched to the ice from inline skating and roller derby. 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.
At the 2018 Pyeongchang Games, Jackson finished 24th in the 500m.
Jackson did not compete internationally last season after an eye injury and multiple people around her contracted COVID-19.
Her previous best World Cup finish was ninth place.
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