# Speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics – Women's 500 metres
The women's 500 meters in long track speed skating at the 2022 Winter Olympics was a single-race competition held on 13 February 2022 at 21:56 at the National Speed Skating Oval in Beijing, won by the United States' Erin Jackson in 37.04 seconds[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424). Thirty skaters from 17 countries took part[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424). Jackson's victory made her the first Black woman to win an Olympic speed skating medal[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [2](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/13/olympics-erin-jackson-speedskating).
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Date and venue | 13 February 2022, 21:56, National Speed Skating Oval (the "Ice Ribbon"), Olympic Green, Beijing[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [3](https://english.beijing.gov.cn/beijing2022/venues/beijing/202103/t20210316_2308891.html) |
| Field | 30 competitors from 17 countries[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) |
| Podium | Gold: Erin Jackson (USA) 37.04; silver: Miho Takagi (JPN) 37.12; bronze: Angelina Golikova (ROC) 37.21[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [2](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/13/olympics-erin-jackson-speedskating) |
| Olympic record entering the race | 36.94, Nao Kodaira (JPN), 18 February 2018[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) |
| Historical firsts | First Black woman to win a Winter Olympic speed skating medal; first Black woman to win an individual gold medal at a Winter Olympics; first American woman to win the 500 m since 1994[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [4](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson) • [13](https://www.history.com/articles/african-americans-olympic-games) |
| U.S. significance | First individual medal for the United States in women's speed skating since 2002[2](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/13/olympics-erin-jackson-speedskating) |
| Backstory | Jackson slipped at the U.S. trials and finished third; teammate Brittany Bowe gave up her 500 m spot so Jackson could compete[4](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson) • [5](https://www.axios.com/2022/01/10/olympics-speed-skating-brittany-bowe-erin-jackson) |
## The race
Jackson raced in the penultimate pair, against Takagi Miho of Japan, and clocked 37.04 seconds[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [4](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson). Her opening 100 meters was timed at 10.33 seconds, the second fastest of the field, and her 100-to-500-meter segment of 26.71 seconds equaled the fastest of the race, which Takagi also recorded[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424). Takagi, who had earlier won silver in the 1,500 meters, took silver in 37.12, and Angelina Golikova of the [Russian Olympic Committee](https://www.edgepedia.org/russian-olympic-committee), the 2021 world champion, took bronze in 37.21[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [2](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/13/olympics-erin-jackson-speedskating).
Vanessa Herzog of Austria, the 2019 world champion who had been hampered by back injuries during the season, placed fourth in 37.28, her second consecutive fourth place at the Olympics[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424). [Jutta Leerdam](https://www.edgepedia.org/jutta-leerdam) (37.34) and [Femke Kok](https://www.edgepedia.org/femke-kok), both of the Netherlands, finished fifth and sixth[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424). The fastest opening 100 meters of the race belonged to China's Tian Ruining, at 10.31 seconds, but she faded to 14th overall[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424). [Brittany Bowe](https://www.edgepedia.org/brittany-bowe), skating after the United States was granted a third quota spot, finished 16th in 38.04[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424).
The standing Olympic record of 36.94, set by Nao Kodaira of Japan on 18 February 2018, was not approached; the winning time was 0.10 seconds slower[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424).
## Erin Jackson's path to the start line
**A late conversion to ice.** Jackson was a former inline speed skater who had won seven medals at world championships in that sport, with 47 national titles and 12 world championship medals overall[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [4](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson). She tried ice speed skating for the first time in 2016, qualified for the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics after only a few months in the sport, and finished 24th in the 500 m there[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [6](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/01/erin-jackson-speed-skating-winter-games). In 2021 she became the first Black American woman to win a speed skating World Cup race[6](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/01/erin-jackson-speed-skating-winter-games).
**World Cup form.** She entered Beijing as the world's top-ranked woman over 500 meters[6](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/01/erin-jackson-speed-skating-winter-games). After sitting out the 2021 "COVID bubble" season in Heerenveen, she won the first three World Cup races of the 2021/22 season, added a fourth in [Salt Lake City](https://www.edgepedia.org/salt-lake-city), and took two more podium finishes, making her one of the pre-Games favorites[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424).
**The trials slip.** Olympic qualification still required a top-two finish at the U.S. trials in [Milwaukee](https://www.edgepedia.org/milwaukee). Midway through her race Jackson had an unusual miss-stroke, briefly lost pace, and finished third in 38.24 seconds, 0.43 seconds behind Brittany Bowe's winning 37.81, with Kimi Goetz second[4](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson) • [5](https://www.axios.com/2022/01/10/olympics-speed-skating-brittany-bowe-erin-jackson). Only the top two qualified, so the slip would normally have cost the No. 1-ranked skater her place[5](https://www.axios.com/2022/01/10/olympics-speed-skating-brittany-bowe-erin-jackson).
**Bowe's gesture.** Bowe, Jackson's longtime friend and former inline teammate from [Ocala, Florida](https://www.edgepedia.org/ocala-florida), where both had learned inline speed skating as children, had already qualified for the team in the 1,000 and 1,500 meters, and gave up her 500 m spot the same day[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [5](https://www.axios.com/2022/01/10/olympics-speed-skating-brittany-bowe-erin-jackson). "I thought she earned it and she deserved it," Bowe said[7](https://time.com/6146887/brittany-bowe-erin-jackson-olympics/). The gesture ultimately cost Bowe nothing on the start list: the United States was granted a third quota spot, and she skated the 500 m in Beijing as well[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424).
## Event format and venue
Olympic long track speed skating is raced on a 400-meter two-lane oval, separate from the 111-meter short track[6](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/01/erin-jackson-speed-skating-winter-games) • [8](https://www.isu-skating.com/en/news/explained-why-speed-skaters-switch-lanes/). Because the skater in the outer lane covers more distance per lap, skaters change lanes every lap so that each covers the same distance[8](https://www.isu-skating.com/en/news/explained-why-speed-skaters-switch-lanes/). For the 500 m event, competitors begin where the final straight starts and swap to the other lane on the crossover straight beyond the opening bend, meaning the race is settled over one and a quarter laps of the 400-meter oval, including two curved ends with four turns in total.[9](https://www.isu-skating.com/en/speed-skating/news/speed-skating-rules-explained/) • [14](https://speedskating.ca/discover/learn-about-speed-skating/long-track/) The inner lane carries an advantage at full speed, which is why World Cup 500 m competitions are typically held as two races with one start in each lane; an academic analysis of the event notes that, from the Nagano 1998 Games onward, Olympic sprinters skated twice, once from each lane[10](https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22298). The 2022 Olympic title was decided on a single timed run, as the results table of one time per skater shows[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424).
The National Speed Skating Oval, known as the "Ice Ribbon," was the only newly built ice venue for the Beijing Games, and the women's 500 m was among its speed skating events[3](https://english.beijing.gov.cn/beijing2022/venues/beijing/202103/t20210316_2308891.html) • [11](https://www.olympedia.org/venues/2140).
## Significance
Jackson's medal was the first for the United States in individual women's speed skating since 2002[2](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/13/olympics-erin-jackson-speedskating), and she became the first American woman to win the Olympic 500 m since 1994[4](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson). She was only the second Black speed skater to become Olympic champion, after [Shani Davis](https://www.edgepedia.org/shani-davis), who in 2006 had become the first Black American to win an individual Winter Olympic gold medal[1](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424) • [12](https://www.teamusa.com/news/2022/february/13/speedskater-erin-jackson-makes-history-with-olympic-gold-medal-in-500-meter). Jackson noted that the win came during [Black History Month](https://www.edgepedia.org/black-history-month) and said she hoped it would encourage more minorities in the United States to try winter sports[4](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson).
## References
1. [Olympedia – 500 metres, Women (13 February 2022)](https://www.olympedia.org/results/19020424)
2. [Axios – U.S. speedskater Erin Jackson wins women's 500m gold (13 February 2022)](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/13/olympics-erin-jackson-speedskating)
3. [Beijing 2022 – National Speed Skating Oval](https://english.beijing.gov.cn/beijing2022/venues/beijing/202103/t20210316_2308891.html)
4. [National Women's History Museum – Erin Jackson](https://www.womenshistory.org/education-resources/biographies/erin-jackson)
5. [Axios – Speedskater gives up Olympic spot to teammate (10 January 2022)](https://www.axios.com/2022/01/10/olympics-speed-skating-brittany-bowe-erin-jackson)
6. [Axios – U.S. speed skater Erin Jackson ready for Winter Games comeback after qualifying slip (1 February 2022)](https://www.axios.com/2022/02/01/erin-jackson-speed-skating-winter-games)
7. [Time – The History of Speed Skaters Brittany Bowe's and Erin Jackson's Friendship](https://time.com/6146887/brittany-bowe-erin-jackson-olympics/)
8. [ISU – Explained: Why Speed Skaters Change Lanes During a Race](https://www.isu-skating.com/en/news/explained-why-speed-skaters-switch-lanes/)
9. [ISU – Explained: Speed Skating Rules](https://www.isu-skating.com/en/speed-skating/news/speed-skating-rules-explained/)
10. [Should the Olympic sprint skaters run the 500 meter twice? (arXiv)](https://arxiv.org/abs/2603.22298)
11. [Olympedia – National Speed Skating Oval, Olympic Green, Beijing](https://www.olympedia.org/venues/2140)
12. [Team USA – Speedskater Erin Jackson Makes History With Olympic Gold Medal In 500-Meter](https://www.teamusa.com/news/2022/february/13/speedskater-erin-jackson-makes-history-with-olympic-gold-medal-in-500-meter)
13. [The First African Americans to Win Olympic Medals, HISTORY](https://www.history.com/articles/african-americans-olympic-games)
14. [Long Track - Speed Skating Canada](https://speedskating.ca/discover/learn-about-speed-skating/long-track/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Sports, games, and recreation › Individual sports and outdoor recreation › Winter and ice sports › Ice skating sports › Speed skating (long track) › Speed skating at the Olympic Games › Women's 500 m at the Olympics*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Edited: Sep 18, 2026; Sep 30, 2026; Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026 · Last review: Oct 21, 2026*
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