Looks Like Black Girls Are About to
Dominate Speedskating in the
2018 Winter Olympics
The Winter Olympics may just finally
be worth watching, on Friday, Erin
Jackson became the first Black woman
to qualify for the U.S. Olympic long-
track Speedskating Team, and the third
ever African American to make the U.S.
Olympics team for Speedskating, mere
months after taking up the sport.
Erin Jackson
The 25-year-old Floridian finished
third, coming in at 39.04 seconds in the
500-meter race in Milwaukee. She now
joins 17-year-old Maame Biney, who
recently became the first Black woman
to qualify for the U.S. Speedskating
Team with her short-track triumph in
mid-December.
We ’bout to see all the #BlackGirlMagic
during the Winter Olympics
in South Korea.
Maame Biney, a Reston, Va. Native says
“I can’t believe it, aww geez. It’s a really
good feeling, but it has to set in first
because it takes me a while. I’m like,
‘Holy cow.’” After Maame qualified,
she let her teen euphoria get the best
of her and came tumbling down on
the ice, but she popped back up like
Beyoncé and took it all in stride.
Maame, whose parents are Ghanaian,
will be the second Black speed skater
on a U.S. Olympic Team. Shani Davis
was 19 when he qualified for the short-
track team in 2002. He later switched
to long track and won four medals,
including two golds, according to USA
Today. And in case you’re wondering
how her last name is pronounced, her
father cleared all that up with a sign
he held from the stands on Saturday:
“Kick Some Hiney Biney.”
Maame Biney