3 minute read
Letter from the Editor
Real Olympic Gold
When the world began talking a few years back about the town in sun-splashed Central Florida that had become a mecca for world-class ice speed skaters, most Ocalans smiled with pride knowing it was their town, the irony of it all lost on no one.
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The three ice skaters who helped bring all that attention – Joey Mantia, Brittany Bowe and Erin Jackson – now are competing in the Beijing Olympics and carry on their shoulders America’s best medal hopes in speed skating.
Since December, when the trio of Ocala speed skaters went into the U.S. Olympic Trials, with each holding a No. 1 world ranking in their respective event, the spotlight on Ocala has only intensified.
How wonderful that Mantia, Bowe and Jackson, all born and raised in Ocala, are going to be competing on the Olympic stage. Their success on ice that has put a spotlight on our community has been uplifting and unifying here at home. That each of the Ocala 3 has a legit shot at bringing home a medal makes it all the more exciting.
While any community would relish being known in an Olympic year, as one publication put it, as “a hotbed for long track speed skaters” and all the pride and possibilities that come with it, the story of Ocala’s ice skating stars got oh so much better as the Olympic trials unfolded last month.
With Mantia and Bowe having secured spots in the Olympics during the trials, Jackson was counting on winning the 500m, an event in which she is currently ranked No. 1 in the world. But during her race, she slipped, she wobbled, causing her to finish third and out of the running to make the team. Bowe, who specializes in the 1000m and 1500m events but also races the 500, had won the 500 trials.
Jackson was heartbroken, her Olympic dreams dashed.
Then came an Olympic moment that will be hard to top.
Bowe, competing in her third Olympics and holder of the world record in the 1000m, went to Jackson the next day and relinquished her spot in the 500 so Jackson could go to Beijing. For the record, Bowe’s best finish in the 500 this year was eighth, while Jackson won four of eight World Cup 500m competitions.
“It’s the right thing to do,” Bowe told NBC Sports. “There’s no doubt in my mind that she would do the same thing for me. … She has earned her spot; she deserves it. “
Jackson, of course, was elated. “Just for her to do something like this for me, it’s amazing. I’m just incredibly grateful. I’m really humbled, and she’s just an amazing person.”
Bowe’s mother, Debbie, who had plenty to be proud of before her daughter’s generous gesture, wrote on her Facebook page: “This is the only ‘gold’ that our world needs! Thankful, truly thankful!”
Amen.
Mantia, Bowe and Jackson have been wonderful global ambassadors for Ocala from their days as world-champion inline skaters all the way through their Olympic journeys to where we are. They have conducted themselves with class and dignity every step of the way.
But Bowe’s giving up a spot in an Olympic event to her friend, teammate and fellow Ocalan is far from what we’re used to seeing in big-time sports stars. It was a golden act
BY BRAD ROGERS
of truly Olympian proportions. Period. It embodied the Olympic spirit like we rarely see.
The story doesn’t end there. There was another happy ending. Because some nations did not use all their allotted spots in the 500 as part of an Olympic “quota” system, a spot opened up for Bowe and she will get to race in the 500 after all. Good things happen to good people.
How blessed we are to be a hotbed of speed skating and especially to be represented before the world by champions like Mantia, Bowe and Jackson.
The Olympic motto is “Faster, Higher, Stronger – Together.” I can think of no athletic performance, no act of friendship and human kindness that embodies that more than what Brittany Bowe did for her friend Erin Jackson at the Olympic trials. Ocala, be proud, very proud.
