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EPA administrator Zeldin demands return of $20B in taxpayer money wasted by Biden administration

The Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) administrator Lee Zeldin said Wednesday that his team has located $20 billion in tax dollars that the Biden administration purposely wasted.

‘An extremely disturbing video circulated two months ago, featuring a Biden EPA political appointee talking about how they were ‘tossing gold bars off the Titanic,’ rushing to get billions of your tax dollars out the door before Inauguration Day,’ Zeldin said in a video posted to X, citing another video from December. ‘The ‘gold bars’ were tax dollars and ‘tossing them off the Titanic’ meant the Biden administration knew they were wasting it.’

Zeldin said the EPA has plans to recover the ‘gold bars’ that were found ‘parked at an outside financial institution,’ which he does not mention by name.

He said that ‘this scheme was the first of its kind in EPA history, and it was purposefully designed to obligate all the money in a rush job with reduced oversight’ before Inauguration Day.

Zeldin said ‘there is zero reason to suspect any wrongdoing by the bank,’ but he thinks an agreement with the institution ‘needs to be instantly terminated’ and all the money should be immediately returned.

He says the EPA needs to resume responsibility for all of these funds, adding that his team will ‘review every penny that has gone out the door.’

‘The days of irresponsibly shoveling boatloads of cash to far-left activist groups in the name of environmental justice and climate equity are over,’ Zeldin said. ‘The American public deserves a more transparent and accountable government than what transpired these past four years.’

He also said that he would be referring this matter to the inspector general’s office and that he would work with the Department of Justice to assist President Donald Trump in regaining control.

‘Now we will get them back inside of control of government as we pursue next steps. As President Trump has vowed, we’re going to usher in a new Golden Age of American success for the citizens of every race, religion, color and creed,’ Zeldin said at the end of the video.

Elon Musk also commended Zeldin on X for an ‘awesome job’ saving taxpayer money.

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Senate to hold final vote on RFK Jr nomination to serve as Trump’s Health secretary

The Senate is expected on Thursday to confirm Robert F. Kennedy Jr. as Health and Human Services (HHS) secretary in President Donald Trump’s cabinet.

The final showdown over Kennedy’s controversial nomination was set in motion after the Republican-controlled Senate on Wednesday – in a 53-47 party-line vote – invoked cloture, which started the clock ticking toward the final confirmation roll call.

Kennedy, the well-known vaccine skeptic and environmental crusader who ran for the White House in 2024 before ending his bid and endorsing Trump, needs a simple majority to be confirmed by the Senate.

Kennedy survived back-to-back combustible Senate confirmation hearings late last month, when Trump’s nominee to lead 18 powerful federal agencies that oversee the nation’s food and health faced plenty of verbal fireworks over past controversial comments, including his repeated claims in recent years linking vaccines to autism, which have been debunked by scientific research.

During the hearings, Democrats also spotlighted Kennedy’s service for years as chair or chief legal counsel for Children’s Health Defense, the nonprofit organization he founded that has advocated against vaccines and sued the federal government numerous times, including a challenge over the authorization of the COVID-19 vaccine for children.

With Democrats on the Senate Finance Committee voting not to advance Kennedy, the spotlight was on Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., a physician and chair of the Senate Committee on Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP).

Cassidy issued a last minute endorsement before the committee level vote, giving Kennedy a party-line 14-13 victory to advance his confirmation to the full Senate.

Cassidy had emphasized during Kennedy’s confirmation hearings that ‘your past of undermining confidence in vaccines with unfounded or misleading arguments concerns me,’ which left doubt about his support.

However, after speaking again with the nominee, Cassidy rattled off a long list of commitments Kennedy made to him, including quarterly hearings before the HELP Committee; meetings multiple times per month; that HELP Committee can choose representatives on boards or commissions reviewing vaccine safety; and a 30-day notice to the committee, plus a hearing, for any changes in vaccine safety reviews.

‘These commitments, and my expectation that we can have a great working relationship to make America healthy again, is the basis of my support,’ the senator said.

Earlier this week, another Republican senator who had reservations regarding Kennedy’s confirmation announced support for the nominee.

‘After extensive public and private questioning and a thorough examination of his nomination, I will support Robert F. Kennedy Jr.,’ GOP Sen. Susan Collins of Maine announced on Tuesday.

Another Republican who was on the fence, Sen. Lisa Murkowski of Alaska, also voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination.

Murkowski noted that she continues ‘to have concerns about Mr. Kennedy’s views on vaccines and his selective interpretation of scientific studies,’ but that the nominee ‘has made numerous commitments to me and my colleagues, promising to work with Congress to ensure public access to information and to base vaccine recommendations on data-driven, evidence-based, and medically sound research.’

Former longtime Senate GOP leader Sen. Mitch McConnell, a major proponent of vaccines, also voted to advance Kennedy’s nomination.

Kennedy, whose outspoken views on Big Pharma and the food industry have also sparked controversy, has said he aims to shift the focus of the agencies he would oversee toward promotion of a healthy lifestyle, including overhauling dietary guidelines, taking aim at ultra-processed foods and getting to the root causes of chronic diseases.

The push is part of his ‘Make America Healthy Again’ campaign.

‘Our country is not going to be destroyed because we get the marginal tax rate wrong. It is going to be destroyed if we get this issue wrong,’ Kennedy said as he pointed to chronic diseases. ‘And I am in a unique position to be able to stop this epidemic.’

The 71-year-old scion of the nation’s most storied political dynasty, launched a long-shot campaign for the Democratic presidential nomination against then-President Joe Biden in April 2023. However, six months later, he switched to an independent run for the White House.

Trump regularly pilloried Kennedy during his independent presidential bid, accusing him of being a ‘Radical Left Liberal’ and a ‘Democrat Plant.’

Kennedy fired back, claiming in a social media post that Trump’s jabs against him were ‘a barely coherent barrage of wild and inaccurate claims.’

However, Kennedy made major headlines again last August when he dropped his presidential bid and endorsed Trump. 

While Kennedy had long identified as a Democrat and repeatedly invoked his late father, former Sen. Robert F. Kennedy, and his late uncle, former President John F. Kennedy – who were both assassinated in the 1960s – Kennedy in recent years built relationships with far-right leaders due in part to his high-profile vaccine skepticism.

After months of criticizing him, Trump called Kennedy ‘a man who has been an incredible champion for so many of these values that we all share.’

Trump announced soon after the November election that he would nominate Kennedy to his Cabinet to run HHS.

The final vote on Kennedy’s nomination comes one day after another controversial pick, director of national intelligence Tulsi Gabbard, was confirmed by the Senate in a 52-48 vote.

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Kash Patel’s nomination to lead FBI faces first major Senate hurdle

The Senate Judiciary Committee is set to vote Thursday on whether to advance Kash Patel’s nomination for FBI director to the Senate floor after a fiery confirmation hearing last month.

The vote is scheduled for 9 a.m. ET. If Patel passes through committee, his nomination will be up for a full Senate vote. 

Democrats had successfully delayed Patel’s committee vote last week in an effort to force the Trump nominee to testify a second time. 

Sen. Charles Grassley, R-Iowa., said attempts by Judiciary ranking member Sen. Dick Durbin, D-Ill., and others to force Patel to testify again were ‘baseless’ as he already sat before the committee for more than five hours and disclosed ‘thousands of pages’ of records to the panel, as well as nearly 150 pages of responses to lawmakers’ written questions.

This week on the Senate floor, Durbin alleged that Patel was behind mass firings at the FBI. Durbin said he’d seen ‘highly credible’ whistleblower reports indicating Patel had been ‘personally directing the ongoing purge of FBI employees prior to his Senate confirmation for the role.’

An aide to Patel denied Durbin’s claim, telling Fox News Digital the nominee flew home to Las Vegas after his confirmation hearing and has ‘been sitting there waiting for the process to play out.’

Patel, a vociferous opponent to the investigations into President Donald Trump and who was at the forefront of his 2020 election fraud claims, vowed during his confirmation hearing that he would not engage in political retribution.

However, the conservative firebrand was likely chosen for his desire to upend the agency. 

In his 2023 book, ‘Government Gangsters,’ he described the FBI as ‘a tool of surveillance and suppression of American citizens’ and ‘one of the most cunning and powerful arms of the Deep State.’ 

Patel has said intelligence officials are ‘intent’ on undermining the president, but he promised he would not go after agents who worked on the classified documents case against Trump. 

‘There will be no politicization at the FBI,’ Patel said. ‘There will be no retributive action.’

Additionally, in another message meant to assuage senators’ concerns, Patel said he did not find it feasible to require a warrant for intelligence agencies to surveil U.S. citizens suspected to be involved in national security matters, referring to Section 702 of the Foreign Intelligence Surveillance Act (FISA).

‘Having a warrant requirement to go through that information in real time is just not comported with the requirement to protect American citizens,’ Patel said. ‘It’s almost impossible to make that function and serve the national, no-fail mission.’

‘Get a warrant’ had become a rallying cry of right-wing conservatives worried about the privacy of U.S. citizens and almost derailed the reauthorization of the surveillance program entirely. Patel said the program has been misused, but he does not support making investigators go to court and plead their case before being able to wiretap any U.S. citizen. 

Patel also seemed to break with Trump during the hearing on the pardons granted to 1,600 persons who had been prosecuted for their involvement in the Jan. 6 Capitol riot, particularly around those who engaged in violence and had their sentences commuted. 

‘I have always rejected any violence against law enforcement,’ Patel said. ‘I do not agree with the commutation of any sentence of any individual that committed violence against law enforcement.’

Patel held a number of national security roles during Trump’s first administration – chief of staff to acting Defense Secretary Chris Miller, senior advisor to the acting director of national intelligence, and National Security Council official. 

He worked as a senior aide on counterterrorism for former House Intelligence Chairman Devin Nunes, where he fought to declassify records he alleged would show the FBI’s application for a surveillance warrant for 2016 Trump campaign aide Carter Page was illegitimate, and served as a national security prosecutor in the Justice Department. 

Patel’s public comments suggest he would refocus the FBI on law enforcement and away from involvement in any prosecutorial decisions. 

In a recent Wall Street Journal op-ed, he suggested his top two priorities were ‘let good cops be cops’ and ‘transparency is essential.’

‘If confirmed, I will focus on streamlining operations at headquarters while bolstering the presence of field agents across the nation. Collaboration with local law enforcement is crucial to fulfilling the FBI’s mission,’ he said. 

Patel went on: ‘Members of Congress have hundreds of unanswered requests to the FBI. If confirmed, I will be a strong advocate for congressional oversight, ensuring that the FBI operates with the openness necessary to rebuild trust by simply replying to lawmakers.’

Fox News’ Breanne Depisch contributed to this report. 

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NHL will hold another international tournament in 2028: What we know

The World Cup of Hockey will return in February 2028, and the NHL and players association envision a continuing cycle of alternating Olympics and World Cups every two years.

Details are still to be worked out, but NHL commissioner Gary Bettman said it would involve ‘at least’ eight countries. Cities, including those in Europe, can start bidding in the coming months. Bettman said he didn’t foresee any melded teams, as happened in the 2016 World Cup of Hockey with smaller European countries forming one team and the North American ‘Young Guns’ forming another.

It’s up in the air whether Russian players can take part because of Russia’s ongoing war in Ukraine. The International Ice Hockey Federation recently voted to ban Russian players from its championships for another year, through the 2025-26 season.

“I would love to see our Russian players play in the tournaments again,” NHL Players’ Association executive director Marty Walsh said in Montreal before the start of the opening game of the 4 Nations Face-Off. “They’re incredible players. The issues are political. They’re not political as far as the NHLPA. It’s the world politics that we have to get through.”

The NHL would shut down the season for part of February 2028 for the tournament.

‘We’re not taking a month off,’ Bettman said. ‘We know how long the Olympic break is so we have a sense of what we need to do.’

Other takeaways from Wednesday’s news conference:

Though the NHL announced salary cap increases for the next three years, negotiations have not begun yet on a new collective-bargaining agreement. The current one expires in September 2026.
Bettman, 72, said he has no plans to retire soon. ‘I love what I do,’ he said, adding, ‘At some point, nobody can do what they do forever. … But I’m going to do it as long as I have the energy and passion and the owners are still pleased’ with how the league is doing.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Which athletes earned the most money in 2024?

With athletes, greatness brings massive pay days. Or, at least, it’s supposed to.

Depending on the sport, the culture around the sport, and their experience in their respective league, the highest-paid athletes are often not who fans expect. While we here in the United States praise LeBron James constantly, he isn’t the most recognizable athlete in other parts of the world. To that end: most of the richest athletes on Earth are soccer players.

And even in 2024, the variance between the highest-paid athlete in the world and the 100th-highest-paid athlete is immense. Here’s a quick breakdown of Sportico’s top 100.

Who is the highest-paid athlete in the world?

Unsurprisingly, Al-Nassr’s Cristiano Ronaldo was the highest-paid athlete in the world in 2024, earning $260 million last year. Of that, $215 million was his salary, and the final $45 million came through endorsements.

NFL STATS CENTRAL: The latest NFL scores, schedules, odds, stats and more.

There was a vast gap between Ronaldo and the second-highest-paid athlete, the Golden State Warriors’ Stephen Curry.

Curry earned $153.8 million last year, with $100 million coming through his endorsements, more than twice that of Ronaldo. However, Curry’s base salary sat at just $53.8 million, a fraction of what Ronaldo earned.

Soccer dominates the top of the list

Although Curry earned the second-most of any athlete last year, soccer still dominated the top of Sportico’s list. Five of their top-10 athletes were soccer players (Ronaldo, Lionel Messi, Neymar, Karim Benzema, Kylian Mbappe), with no other sport having more than two representatives.

Outside of the top 10, though, soccer almost drops off the map entirely. Only seven other soccer athletes made the list, with only one of them even cracking the top 25 (Erling Haaland).

After the top 10, basketball and football start to take over. The NBA has 36 players represented on the list, far and away the most of any organization. Curry was the highest earner at $153.8 million, second in the world, while the Denver Nuggets’ Michael Porter Jr. – $37.7 million – was the final NBA player to make the list, sitting at 98th in the world.

The NFL boasts 22 athletes in total, all but four of them being quarterbacks. Tight end Travis Kelce ($47.4 million, 54th), wide receiver Justin Jefferson ($45.3 million, 68th), wide receiver CeeDee Lamb ($44.3 million, 71st), and edge rusher Brian Burns ($43.9 million, 73rd) were the only non-quarterbacks to make the list. In an absolute shocker, the Minnesota Vikings’ Daniel Jones, who was cut by the New York Giants during the 2024 NFL season, just made the cut, earning $37.5 million in 2024, 100th on the list.

Breakdown by sport

Here is how many athletes from each sport made the list:

Basketball: 36
Football: 22
Soccer: 12
Baseball: 11
Golf: 9
Fighting: 6
Formula 1: 2
Tennis: 2

Other notables

With most of the money in his contract deferred, it’s shocking to still see the Los Angeles Dodgers’ Shohei Ohtani so high on the list, ranking 21st at $72.5 million. Ohtani only earned $2.5 million in salary in 2024 – the lowest of anyone on the list. But Ohtani is such a massive star he was able to collect $70 million in endorsements. Outside of Curry’s $100 million in endorsements, only LeBron James ($85 million in endorsements) and Messi ($75 million) earned more through that avenue. The next closest after Ohtani was Tiger Woods, who earned $52 million in endorsements in 2024.

Despite not being considered top-10 quarterbacks by many fans, Dallas’ Dak Prescott and Detroit’s Jared Goff each earned more than $80 million in salary alone in 2024. On salary/winnings alone, Prescott would’ve ranked sixth in the world with Goff coming in at ninth. Green Bay’s Jordan Love would’ve ranked 10th as well, though he earned just under $80 million at $79.1 million in salary.

The Los Angeles Angels have not gotten more than 60 games out of Anthony Rendon since he joined the club in 2020. Still, despite the lack of play time, he’s a top-100 earner, raking in $38.3 million in 2024. Rendon, unsurprisingly, earned the fewest in endorsements ($250,000) of anyone on the list. It’s hard to get brands interested when they never see you play. Rendon is still owed $76 million by the Los Angeles Angels over the next two years.

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NL West team agrees to 4-year deal with pitcher. No, it’s not the Dodgers.

Pivetta and the San Diego Padres have agreed to a four-year, $55 million contract that includes several opt-outs, pending a physical, ESPN’s Jeff Passan reported Wednesday. The deal will pay out $1 million in 2025, in addition to a $3 million signing bonus, followed by $19 million, $14 million and $18 million in 2026, 2027 and 2028, respectively, Passan added.

The Boston Red Sox previously offered Pivetta a $21.05 million qualifying offer in the offseason, but he turned it down in November to enter free agency. The right-handed pitcher was one of the best remaining on the market.

MLB WINTER WINNERS AND LOSERS: Dodgers ready to repeat, Cardinals look clueless

Missing some time due to a right elbow flexor strain, Pivetta went 6-12 with a 4.14 ERA for the Red Sox last season, recording 172 strikeouts with 128 hits allowed, 70 runs allowed and 36 walks in 145.2 innings pitched. On May 30, Pivetta struck out eight consecutive batters in the Red Sox’s 5-0 loss the Detroit Tigers to tie Roger Clemens’ franchise record.

All things Padres: Latest San Diego Padres news, schedule, roster, stats, injury updates and more.

Pivetta will join Padres starters Dylan Cease, Michael King, Yu Darvish and Randy Vasquez. Joe Musgrove underwent Tommy John surgery and will miss the entire 2025 season after tearing his UCL in the Padres’ 5-4 win over the Atlanta Braves in the NL Wild Card Series.

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NCAA committee recommends flag football for NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program

One of the fastest-growing sports in America could be coming to the NCAA.

On Wednesday, the NCAA Committee on Women’s Athletics recommended that Divisions I, II, and III sponsor legislation to add to the NCAA Emerging Sports for Women program. After the vote, all three divisions will have an opportunity to sponsor legislation to advance the sport, and the recommendation will move through the NCAA governance structures.

‘The growth of flag football will be exciting to watch in the NCAA as women’s sports continue to generate more visibility and opportunities for female student-athletes to excel academically and athletically,’ Ragean Hill, chair of the Committee on Women’s Athletics and executive associate athletics director at Charlotte said in a statement.

‘The Committee on Women’s Athletics wants to thank RCX Sports Foundation and USA Football for submitting the application. CWA looks forward to flag football being added to the Emerging Sports for Women program and watching the sport’s exciting journey to NCAA championship status in the future.’ 

According to Yahoo Sports, 14 states sponsor flag football as a varsity sport. Commercials aired during the Super Bowl, and ESPN analyst Pat McAfee and the NFL pushed to expand girls’ flag football in more states. Flag football was added for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and has gained momentum as a varsity high school sport.

The Emerging Sports for Women program, established in 1994, is intended to help schools provide women with more opportunities and scholarships. Six sports have achieved NCAA championship status: rowing (1996), ice hockey (2000), water polo (2000), bowling (2003), beach volleyball (2015) and wrestling (2026).

The first women’s wrestling NCAA championship is slated for the winter of 2026 after Division I, II and III athletics moved the sport from the program to become the NCAA’s 91st championship in January. Acrobatics, tumbling, equestrian (only Divisions I and II), rugby, stunt and triathlon are five sports currently in the Emerging Sports for Women program.

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Kadarius Toney arrested for allegedly strangling woman

Free agent wide receiver Kadarius Toney has been arrested for allegedly ‘physically assaulting’ a woman last month during a domestic dispute at a residence in Douglasville, Georgia.

According to an arrest warrant obtained by USA TODAY Sports on Wednesday, Toney allegedly strangled a woman ‘with enough force to cause her to be unable to (breathe)’ during an altercation on Jan. 14, allegedly leaving the victim with red marks on her neck and petechial hemorrhaging in her eyes. Authorities also say Toney prevented the woman from seeking help, alleging he ‘took her phone away when she attempted to call 911 and canceled voice commands for the phones to call 911 while physically assaulting her.’

A warrant was issued for Toney’s arrest the following day on Jan. 15.

Toney, 26, was later booked into a Douglas County Sheriff’s Office facility on Feb. 6, according to online records. He was charged with one count of aggravated assault (strangulation) and one count of obstructing/harassing 911 calls. A judge set Toney’s bond at $25K for each charge.

Toney, a two-time Super Bowl champion, is currently a free agent after he was released by the Cleveland Browns in December following several costly blunders in the Browns’ 27-14 loss to the Pittsburgh Steelers in Week 14, including a muffed punt.

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Toney was selected out of the University of Florida by the New York Giants with the 20th overall pick of the 2021 NFL draft. He was traded to the Kansas City Chiefs in October 2022 and made an impact on the Chiefs’ special teams. Toney set a record for the longest punt return in Super Bowl history with a 65-yard punt return in the fourth quarter of the Chiefs’ Super Bowl 57 win over the Philadelphia Eagles.

The Chiefs waived Toney in August following an error-filled 2023 campaign, which included an infamous play where he lined up offsides and negated what would have been a go-ahead touchdown against the Buffalo Bills. He signed with the Browns’ practice squad in September, before being promoted to the active roster on Dec. 7 and released three days later.

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A.J. Brown says he isn’t satisfied with winning Super Bowl

The receiver isn’t even a week removed from winning Super Bowl 59 with the Philadelphia Eagles and he’s telling the world it isn’t enough.

Brown, who just wrapped up year six in the NFL and his first as a champion, took to Instagram in an effort to inform everyone of his feelings after the big game. While championships are enough for most, that won’t be the case for him.

‘After a few days, I’ve had time to reflect on being a champion,’ Brown wrote. ‘I tried to feel how everyone made it seem to be a champion and unfortunately it was short lived.. two days to be exact lol.’

He signaled that he prefers the chase and dominating the opposition instead.

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‘I’ve never been a champion at the highest level before but I thought my hard work would be justified by winning it all,’ Brown said. ‘It wasn’t. My thrill for this game comes when i dominate. It’s the Hunt that does it for me. It’s when the Db drops his head and surrender because he can’t F with me . The Intense battles. Early mornings. Late nights. Sacrifices. I love putting smiles on peoples faces, don’t get me wrong but it just wasn’t what I thought it would be. It’s the journey that I love the most. BACK 2 Work!’

Brown is coming off somewhat of a down year statistically. He missed three games with a hamstring injury and was later absent in Week 18 with a knee issue. The Eagles opted to rest starters in that game, meaning Brown’s absence was likely more precautionary given he played the following week.

Philadelphia opted for a run-first approach all year long thanks to Saquon Barkley’s dominant season. The running back transformed the offense and challenged the NFL’s single-season rushing record.

Regardless, Brown’s impact was still felt all season long. He posted seven touchdowns and 1,079 yards in just 13 games.

However, things got a little dicey in the playoffs when frustration began to boil over at times. Amid his one catch for 10 yards performance in the wild-card round, Brown was seen reading a book on the sidelines. That was later downplayed and eventually became a non-issue.

It wasn’t until the NFC championship game that Brown’s impact was felt in the postseason. He turned in 96 yards and a touchdown against the Washington Commanders before totaling 43 yards and a touchdown in the Super Bowl against the Kansas City Chiefs.

While those accolades are great, Brown is already gearing up for the 2025 regular season.

The ring is great, but he’d like it better on the finger of domination.

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Olympic champion Erin Jackson knows the power of her story

MILWAUKEE, Wisconsin — Erin Jackson didn’t know she was making history.

The Olympic champion speedskater is well aware her sport remains overwhelmingly white. All she has to do is look around the rink. She also knows how few Black athletes there are at the Winter Games. Again, all the two-time Olympian has to do is look around.

But the first Winter Olympics was more than a century ago. Surely Jackson’s gold medal, in the 500 meters at the Beijing Olympics in 2022, couldn’t have been the first by a Black woman in an individual sport at the Winter Games.

It was, though.

“I didn’t realize it until I saw it in a headline,” Jackson said. “In the history of the Winter Olympics, I thought there had to have been plenty of other people. So it was pretty interesting to hear that.

“Hopefully we’ll have a second and a third and a fourth coming pretty quickly.”

Jackson already knows she wants to have an active role in making that happen when she’s done competing. Among other things, she’s considering creating a scholarship program because speedskating is expensive, especially for those who are just starting out.

For now, however, Jackson has more history to make. Like joining Bonnie Blair as the only U.S. woman to repeat as Olympic champion in speed skating, perhaps.

Jackson got her start in inline skating, winning dozens of national titles and multiple medals at the world championships. Because inline isn’t an Olympic sport, many athletes make the transition to speedskating, something that initially held no interest for Jackson.

“I hate time trials and I hate being cold,” the Florida native said, laughing. “Now all I do is time trials in the cold, which I find kind of funny. But I’m having a blast.”

Jackson began speedskating in 2017 and, four months later, qualified for the Pyeongchang Olympics. By Beijing, she was No. 1 in the world in the 500 meters.

Jackson is an engineering graduate — materials science, to be exact — and part of what captivated her about her new sport was figuring out the process. Inline and speedskating might seem similar, but mastering the differences is what separates the good from the great.

Speedskating requires sharper angles than inline, and a lower body position during races. Jackson said she had to break down her technique, identifying the habits she’d formed in inline and deciding whether they would help her in speedskating or hold her back. Then she had to break herself of the latter and create new habits for speedskating.  

“I just learned about humbling myself,” said Jackson, who still inlines in the off-season. “Coming from the top of one sport and starting over with a new sport, it was a really big challenge. But I really welcomed the challenge and it was just really exciting to be able to try to figure out a new sport.

“I guess it happened relatively quickly, but for me it seemed like it took forever,” Jackson said. “And it seems like I’m still learning and growing every time I step out there.”

Jackson, 32, was ranked No. 1 in the 500 meters again last year, her second World Cup season title. She began this year with a bit of an injury, and is taking care not to aggravate it. Still, she won the 500-meter title at the Four Continents Championships in November.

She’s also won one World Cup race, and was second in both 500s at the World Cup here earlier this month.

“I’m really focusing on playing it safe. Getting through this season and then being able to really rehab everything and come out next year strong,” Jackson said. “Because next year is the real deal. So this year, yeah, definitely just trying to keep everything happy and trying not to get too old, too fast.”

And not just for herself.

Growing up, Jackson said she didn’t think about being the only Black skater. But she remembers being excited when she’d see other skaters who looked like her, so she knows what a powerful message it sends to Black girls and young women who see her at the Olympics.

“It’s really cool to read the messages from the moms, saying, `Oh my daughter saw you skating and now she wants to try it,’” Jackson said.

“It’s a really special feeling,” she added. “I always want to be a good example, anyway. But just having that extra level, it really keeps me focused and wanting to be someone that other people can look to.”

By being the first, Jackson is ensuring she won’t be the last.

Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.

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