Although the Olympics have complete this cycle, we still have a few stories from the Winter Games 2026. We sat down with Erin Jackson Team USA Olympic Speedskating Gold Medalist to talk about her love of the sport, how she got into it, competing at Milan-Cortina and more.
ATHLEISURE MAG: When did you fall in love with speed skating, and what do you love about this sport?
ERIN JACKSON: I actually loved this sport for as long as I can remember. You know, some of my earliest memories of skating were just up and down my driveway and the little plastic skates. So it started out as just a hobby for me. I didn’t have any dreams of being competitive in the sport. I just started doing it because I loved it. So that was my intro which was through roller skating and then roller skating led me to inline skating and then inline skating led me to ice skating. So, yeah, it was just kind of a, I guess, a very natural progression, but it did just start with the love of the sport and the love of the hobby I guess!
AM: I mean, there are so many things you could have done! Why did you decide that figure skating wasn’t the thing, but speed skating was?
EJ: I actually did go that route first, so I did what’s called artistic skating. And that’s like figure skating, but also on roller skates. Who knows? That that could have been where I ended up, but my coaches in artistic skating they actually moved away to pursue figure skating on Ice for their daughters. Their daughters ended up competing in Sochi, I believe.
AM: Wow!
EJ: So who knows? Maybe I could have gone that route, too? But when they moved, I just let that be the end of figure skating.
AM: Well, what does an average week look like when it comes to training for upcoming competitions?
EJ: So we train six days a week, most days, it’s two training sessions. One of those days, we’ll have three training sessions one of those days, we’ll have one training session, but we’re training most the time. It’s kind of like a full-time job, so we’ll have a morning session for probably 3 hours or so, and then rest in the afternoon for lunch and then come back and have another session later in the day.
Normally skating once a day, and then the other session can be, you know, like, bike intervals, or, you know, cardio or weightlifting or something like that.
AM: We were just going to ask about three workouts that you do to optimize for this particular sport? You kind of just answered it. Our minds are still wrapping around six days a week. I mean, clearly, that is what you have to do.
So this past Olympics marks your third, where you were competing in the 500 meter and the 1000 meter? What does it mean to you to be able to compete on such a global stage?
EJ: It’s a really cool honor, I guess, like just being part of the Olympics and just being able to be part of this really large thing where people from all over the world are coming to do the thing that they devote their lives to. We all just come here and do it together. It’s just a really cool community aspect, you know, part of this large community of Olympians and Team USA. And it’s, yeah, I feel like that’s the best feeling of it, just like doing it all together.
AM: What did you love most about your experience this year, and you know, being in the Olympics, and are you thinking ahead to 2030?
EJ: Yeah, I am thinking of 2030, yeah, I couldn’t imagine stopping the train at this point. I definitely want to keep going with all the progress I’ve made this season, and I really want to carry that forward. Some of my best memories from this games were a toss-up between watching my teammates this time around, because for most of them, it was their first Olympics. It’s getting to see all the amazing firsts that they were experiencing and then also watching other Team USA events, like with athletes from those sports. You know, they can give a lot of insight and like behind the scenes info about the scoring and sometimes even the drama in the sport. So, yeah, that was a really cool thing too.
AM: Well, you are part of Happiness as The Real Gold Hershey Campaign, which is so fun to see that and to get to see other aspects of you while you’re talking. Why did you want to be involved in it? And what does happiness mean to you? And where do you find it?
EJ: Yeah, the Happiness is The Real Gold Campaign, I feel like was a really important thing to get out there in a really important message, because it can just like remind athletes and just people in general that the people in your lives who love you and care about you like, they’re gonna love you, no matter what, because what they really want for you is happiness.
AM: Yeah.
EJ: Your achievements are just kind of a bonus for that. I feel like it was a really great message and one that was really heartfelt and emotional campaign, especially with having our families involved. I was really happy to be a part of it.
IG @speedyj
After chatting with Erin, we caught up with her fellow Team USA Speedskater, Jordan Stolz. We wanted to hear from him about his passion, a successful Winter Olympics, and more!
ATHLEISURE MAG: How did you come to the sport of speedskating and for those that are not familiar with it, how would you describe it to them?
JORDAN STOLZ: I would describe it as a sport where you are constantly trying to keep progressing and a sport that is very satisfying when you improve. The feeling of being able to go fast on turns is a feeling that I can’t get anywhere else! I can’t get it in a car, I can’t do it on a mountain on a bike – it’s something that is very surreal and I think that people get addicted to it!
I first got into it because of Apolo Ohno (G2, S2, B4) back in 2010 and I was watching him compete and it was the first Olympics that I had ever watched in my life. I was just really into it and it caught my eye with the way that he was passing people. It was like a showman and I asked my parents if I could start skating and I actually started with my sister on our frozen pond in our backyard. We shoveled a track and ever since then, I have been doing pretty good.
AM: What are workouts that you find beneficial for speedskating?
JS: I would say a lot of cycling. The number 1 thing that changed for me is when I spent a lot more time on a bike. The weight room too – just building up your squats. You have to have power on the ice. You want to combine those two, but you don’t want to go too far with either one. You don’t want to be this cyclist that weighs 130lbs, but you also don’t want to be a body builder and then you would be super slow on the ice – you’d have too much weight. It’s kind of factoring all of that in to work with the mechanics of skating and the technique. I have found that to be the most beneficial for me.
AM: What were the Opening Ceremonies like for you and what does it mean to you to compete on such a global stage?
JS: It means a lot to compete for Team USA on the Olympics as a global stage and to win 3 medals, the highest medal count. That means a lot, not just for me, but for speedskating itself and the whole country. It’s great that I can bring more awareness to speedskating as it’s such a cool sport and I’m glad to be able to do that.
I didn’t walk the Opening Ceremonies, but I loved watching it on TV when I was in the Village.
AM: When it’s your gameday, do you have or do anything that gets you into the mindset to compete?
JS: I try to relax a lot and not to think too much about the races. I want to be able to get into the zone before getting into the rink. Before that, I like to chit chat with people, sit in bed and watch some reels, and then I can get out there and be ready!
AM: You had an amazing Winter Games 2026! You won a Gold in the 500 M and then another one in the 1,000 M - the first American male to do it in the same Olympics since 1980 and you got Silver in the 1,500 - you also made 2 World Records - what does it feel like to leave the Games with those accolades?
JS: It means a lot especially to have my name attached to Eric Heiden (5G) and it means a lot to be thought of as a successful speedskater in Olympic history for the US. I hope that I can continue to progress and do better going into 2030 and this is just one of those stepping stones. When I went to Beijing, I didn’t win any medals there and then 4 years later, I trained a lot and the World Cup had a lot of experiences and then I was able to come here to the Olympics in a very prepared way! Who knows what can happen over the next 4 years? Hopefully something very similar and I am feeling very good about the results that I have had this entire season and not just the ones that took place at the Olympics. I’ve been skating some fast times and had great track records.
AM: In your downtime in Milan, how did you take time for yourself to reset between competitions?
JS: It was just – there wasn’t a lot to do in the Village, so it was about laying in bed and trying to relax and focus.
AM: You partnered with Hershey’s For the Happiness Campaign. Why did you want to partner with them and what does Happiness is the Real Gold mean to you?
JS: I wanted to partner with them because they are a huge household name company. Having that name tied around you at the Winter Olympics really special. It’s the highest achievement that you can have as a speed skater. First of all going to the Olympics, and then being able to win a Gold medal, with the name Hershey’s behind you – that just means a lot especially how they support my family in general. It’s authentic and I feel that they really put the truth behind the slogan that Happiness is The Real Gold. They are 100% right about that!
AM: Now that you are settling in post Olympics, are there any projects or upcoming competitions that we should keep an eye out for?
JS: I have the World Champions coming up – the World Sprints and the World All Arounds – it’s a combination race. It’s kind of like the 2nd thing to the Olympics if you are considering the Netherlands view. They view it super seriously here. I think it’s really cool and I will compete in both and try to win both of them. It will be fun and really hard! Everyone wants to hear if I will be doing anything in cycling and that’s probably not going to happen because I will be focused on skating.
PHOTOGRAPHY CREDIT | Hershey’s
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