Erin Jackson named Team USA flag-bearer for 2026 Winter Olympics

Speed skater Erin Jackson has been named one of Team USA's flag-bearers for the 2026 Winter Olympic Games, a role she will share with bobsledder Frank del Duca. The Parade of Nations during the Opening Ceremony features athletes from every competing country, and carrying the national flag is considered a major honor.

For the United States, the flag-bearers—typically one male and one female athlete—are chosen by a vote of Team USA. Born in Florida, Jackson spent much of her early skating life on wheels, taking up inline skating and roller derby and rising to world champion status in the sport.

She began training on the ice in 2017 and qualified for the 2018 Winter Games in PyeongChang just months later. "I just had always enjoyed going fast on skates. And now I found a sport where that's the objective," Jackson said of the transition. She returned to the Olympics in 2022 and won the 500-meter race in Beijing, becoming the first Black woman from any country to win a gold medal in any individual event at the Winter Olympics.

United States, Florida