Erin Jackson (USA) (left) and compatriot Brittany Bowe (USA) (right) celebrate at the end of the Women's 500m during the 2022 Speed Skating World Cup Final in Heerenveen, Netherlands. @ Getty Images
The Olympic Day was also an occasion to celebrate another great announcement: Brittany Bowe (USA), three-time Olympian and seven-time Speed Skating World Champion, was presented today with a Fair Play award from the International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) in recognition of her extraordinary display of sporting spirit during the Olympic Winter Games Beijing 2022.
Japanese skateboarder Kokona Hiraki, Australian skateboarder Poppy Olsen and American speed skater Brittany Bowe posing with their 2023 Fair Play awards received from the International Fair Play Committee (CIFP) in Lausanne, Switzerland. @ IOC/Greg Martin
Brittany Bowe’s remarkable gesture goes back to the Beijing 2022. While Bowe came out first in the 500m Speed Skating USA Olympic trials, her teammate Erin Jackson was less fortunate when an error on the second straight dropped her outside the automatic qualification places. However, Bowe felt that her long-time friend Jackson deserved to be in Beijing after her four World Cup wins during the 2012/22 season. Bowe thus decided to step aside and give her spot in the 500m race so that Jackson could compete (read more here).
Erin Jackson (USA) and Brittany Bowe (USA) speak to the media during the 2022 U.S. Speedskating Long Track Olympic Trials in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. @ Getty Images
“In my heart, there was never a question that I would do whatever it took - if it came down to me - to get Erin to skate at the Olympics. At that time it seemed to me that the only way Erin will get to compete in the Olympics is if one of us gives up that spot,” Bowe said to explain her move.
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Erin Jackson, Brittany Bowe, Austin Kleba, and Kimi Goetz of Team United States skate during a speed skating practice session ahead of the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games in Beijing, China. @ Getty Images
It turned out that Team USA later received another spot in the 500m, so that Jackson and Bowe ended up competing the race alongside each other. Finally, Jackson won the gold medal for Team USA, honoring Bowe’s Olympic spirit and friendship (read more here). Jackson became the first American Speed Skater to win an Olympic gold medal in the Women’s 500m since 1994.
The 2023 Fair Play award was presented to Brittany Bowe by IOC President Thomas Bach during a ceremony held at the newly-inaugurated “Espace Fair Play” (Fair Play Space) in Lausanne, Switzerland.
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