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Jacksonville's Erin Jackson Will Compete For Olympic Gold This Weekend

Erin Jackson's Facebook page
Olympic long-track speed skater Erin Jackson is from Jacksonville.

The First Coast will be cheering for a hometown Olympian this weekend.

Jacksonville roller girl Erin Jackson, who plays for the New Jax City Rollers, is hitting the ice in South Korea this weekend as an Olympic long-track speed skater.

WJCT sports analyst Cole Pepper talked about her prowess on the ice on First Coast Connect.

“25-years-old, four months of speed skating on the ice and I’m told by one of her teammates that she was amazing on the roller rink and that she was both fast and nimble as a roller derby competitor.  Also the first African American to make the U.S. Olympic speed skating team.”

Jackson is a native of Ocala.

She’s set to compete for Team USA in the 500-meter Olympic speed skating event this Sunday.

Contact reporter Cyd Hoskinson at choskinson@wjct.org, 904-358-6351 and on Twitter @cydwjctnews.

Cyd Hoskinson began working at WJCT on Valentine’s Day 2011.