Olympic Speed Skater Erin Jackson Got Her Start In A Different Sport

In Bustle’s The Pregame, we ask athletes about their pregame rituals. How do they get in the zone? What do they listen to? Do they have any superstitions before a major competition? Here, speed skater and Olympic gold medalist Erin Jackson talks ’80s music, electrolytes, and training for the 2026 Winter Games.

For more than a decade, Erin Jackson was a competitive inline skater in sunny Florida. She won 47 national titles and 12 world championship medals, and she was one of the fastest sprinters around — hence her Instagram handle, @speedyj.

In a move nobody saw coming, she switched sports when she was 25 — an age considered “older” for many athletes to make their debut — and took up speed skating. It’s an icy sport that’s a lot like inline skating, but one with a path to the Olympics. Her goal? To make it to the 2022 Winter Games.

“It was definitely a humbling experience because it was like coming from the top of one sport and then starting over at the bottom of another one,” the 33-year-old tells Bustle. “It took a lot of humility and willingness to listen to advice from anyone.”

To make up for lost time, Jackson threw herself into the speed skating world, often taking classes with little kids half her height. “They were skating circles around me,” she says. But instead of giving up, she pushed through with the help of her coach, Renee Hildebrand, who instilled in her a sense of grit and determination.

“When I came into speed skating on ice, my thought wasn’t ‘Will I ever succeed at the sport?’ It was more ‘How long will it take me?’ So I always had it in the back of my mind that I’d do what it takes to be successful,” Jackson says. As part of her Olympics push, she moved to Salt Lake City in September 2017 to continue to train, and by November, she had already qualified for the 2018 Winter Games.

After placing 24th overall that year, she went on to win gold at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Today, she’s gearing up to do it all again in the 500- and 1,000-meter races at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan-Cortina. Fans, family, and sponsors are all cheering her on along the way.

Ahead of this year’s games, “Hershey’s. It’s Your Happy Place.” campaign teamed up with Jackson and other Olympians to reflect on what makes them happy beyond the podium. For the campaign, Jackson filmed a video with her aunt and uncle, Jacquelyn and Michael Walker, who have always been so proud of her success. “This partnership is all about how, above everything else, my family just wants me to be happy,” she says. “I’ve been skating as long as I can remember, and it’s definitely where I find joy.”

Here, Jackson shares how she gets ready to compete, including icy warm-ups, must-have snacks, and her intense training schedule.

How do you warm up before taking the ice?

As I’m getting older and dealing with injuries, it’s mainly about making sure my body is ready to perform at a high level. That means I do a lot of mobility work, especially for my back, and cardio to get the blood flowing.

How have you been training for the 2026 Games?

We’ve recently switched from training as a group to mostly solo. I’m being diligent about keeping my cardio strong. I’m on the ice five days a week and lifting in the gym twice a week. We also have what we call “dry land,” which is where we reinforce skating positions and movements, but in shoes.

What do you listen to while getting ready?

I’m a no-headphones person when I’m at the venue, but when I do listen to music, it’s something from the ’80s. I like upbeat music to pump me up.

What’s going through your mind before a race?

For the most part, when I’m on the start line, it’s all automatic. I’ve trained so hard and with the best intentions leading up to the event. That way, when I’m at the line, I can just rely on my training and muscle memory.

What is life typically like in the Olympic village? Are you looking forward to it in Milan?

We’re all into playing cards, especially Uno. We’ll get dinner and bring our own deck of cards so we can hang back and play afterward until we get tired. We also like to go to coffee shops together. It doesn’t have to be all stress. We like to have fun, too!

This interview has been edited and condensed for clarity.