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Utah speed skater named 1 of 2 U.S. flag bearers at Olympic opening ceremony

The Salt Lake Community College alumna is gearing up for her third Games

(Trent Nelson | The Salt Lake Tribune) Erin Jackson celebrates winning the gold medal in the speedskating women's 500m at the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing on Sunday, Feb. 13, 2022.

Olympic speed skater Erin Jackson and bobsled athlete Frank Del Duca will wave the U.S. flag at Friday’s Olympic opening ceremony in Italy.

Jackson, a Salt Lake Community College alumna, is gearing up for her third Games this year in search of a second Olympic gold medal.

At the Beijing Games in 2022, she made history as the first black woman to win gold in an individual event at the Winter Olympics.

(Rick Egan | The Salt Lake Tribune) Erin Jackson skates in the Women's 500m in the ISU Speed Skating World Cup, at the Olympic Oval in Kearns, on Saturday, Nov. 15, 2025.

The 33-year-old is the eighth speed skater to be chosen to be a Team USA flag bearer. She will walk alongside U.S. bobsled pilot Del Duca, who is competing in his second Olympics.

The 34-year-old is of Italian heritage and in a statement from USA Bobsled said, “There is no greater honor than leading Team USA into the opening ceremony at an Italian Olympics.”

Read more at kpcw.org.