Erin Jackson misses podium in 500m title defense at Milano Cortina
Erin Jackson, the defending Olympic champion in the women's 500 meters, finished fifth at the Milano Cortina Games on Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026 (ET), unable to repeat her historic win from Beijing. The result leaves Jackson off the podium in a tightly contested sprint that produced a new medalist on the distance.
Race recap: margins of hundredths and a missed defense
The 500m final at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium played out as a blistering test of power and precision. Jackson posted a competitive time but was edged out by several challengers over the two-lap sprint. In an event where races are decided by hundredths of a second, small deviations in starting posture and the blade-to-ice rhythm proved decisive.
Jackson steadied her start and delivered the clean lines that have defined her skating, but a pair of competitors were faster over the full distance and claimed the medals. The fifth-place finish marks a disappointment for Jackson, who entered the Games with the expectations that come with being the reigning Olympic champion and one of the nation’s flag bearers.
From roller rinks to the Olympic spotlight: Jackson’s journey
Jackson’s path to the ice and to Olympic gold is unconventional and well-documented in her own candor. Raised on inline skates in Ocala, Florida, she built a career on wheels, collecting dozens of national titles before switching to long-track ice speed skating in her mid-20s. Her rapid ascent culminated in a breakout at the 2022 Winter Games, where she became the first Black woman to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal.
Her transition from roller speed to the ice required enormous adaptation—new technique, new equipment and a steep learning curve against athletes who had skated on ice since childhood. Jackson’s resilience and late arrival to the sport remain central to her profile: she earned a World Cup breakthrough and, two years ago, the Olympic crown that elevated her to national prominence.
Off the ice, Jackson has pushed herself into new arenas. In 2023 she took part in a televised endurance challenge that tested physical and mental limits, confronting fears such as open-water immersion and claustrophobic simulations. The experience, she has said, helped broaden her sense of toughness and perspective—even if it didn’t change the razor-thin mathematics of sprint speed skating.
What’s next: perspective and the road forward
Jackson’s fifth-place result is both a setback and a chapter in a still-evolving career. At 33, she remains competitive and prominent within the sport, with a track record that includes multiple national titles and international successes. The short-track sprint schedule leaves room for reflection, technical adjustments and targeted training ahead of world championships and the next Olympic cycle.
For Team USA, Jackson’s result came amid a mixed day of outcomes across winter events. Other American athletes saw varied fortunes in skiing, snowboarding and team sports, underscoring the unpredictable nature of the Games and the fine margins that separate medals from near-misses.
Jackson will depart the Milano Cortina oval with the knowledge that she met the occasion head-on, but with unfinished business on the best-case outcomes list. The speed skating world will watch what technical tweaks, race strategies and offseason preparation she employs as she looks to regain a place on future podiums.
