Bowe grabs berth in 3rd individual event for Beijing Games

Brittany Bowe won the women’s 1,500 meters at the U.S. Olympic speedskating trials on Saturday, earning a spot in her third individual event for the Beijing Games.

Bowe finished in 1 minute, 50.32 seconds at the Pettit National Ice Center, where fans were banned because of surging COVID-19 cases.

Her excitement was dimmed by Erin Jackson’s failure to make the team in the 500 a day earlier. Jackson slipped during her 500 race and finished third, behind winner Bowe and Kimi Goetz.

“Erin is one of my great friends, great teammates," Bowe said. "I’d be lying if I said that hadn’t taken a bit of an emotional toll on me.”

It also affected Goetz, who finished third in the 1,500. She was second to Bowe in the 1,000 and has earned her first Olympic berth.

“Yesterday was a little stressful and emotional, and I let that carry into today,” Goetz said. “No excuse. I'm disappointed to not finish top-two.”

Mia Manganello Kilburg finished second in the 1,500 in 1:54.85 and will be making her second Olympic appearance next month. She earlier won the 3,000, but the U.S. doesn't yet have a guaranteed spot in that event.

Jackson returned a day after her slip and was sixth in the 1,500 in 2:02.45. Her specialty is the 500, where on November she became the first Black woman to win a World Cup event. She dominated the event during the World Cup circuit.

Now, she would need either Bowe or Goetz to decline their spot in the 500 to make her second Olympics.

The men's 1,500 was later Saturday.