making her the first black woman to medal in the olympic sport. >> i would say to anyone who's thinking of transferring into speed skating or any other sport, just take that first step to maybe try something new. and then even if it doesn't work out, try again and keep trying. >> reporter: 29-year-old jackson picking up speed skating just five years ago. and quickly becoming the favorite to win the 500 meter. but a stumble at the trials last month taking her out of the running to make team usa. jackson getting a second chance when friend and teammate brittany bowe, who qualified for two other events, offered up her spot. >> i've known brittany bowe since i was 10 years old. we come from the same city back in florida, and we grew up skating on the same team. >> reporter: and as the first snow of these winter games falls on beijing, postponing some events, the world waits to hear from the court of arbitration for sport on whether 15-year old russian phenom kamila valyieva will skate in the singles competition. valiyeva testing positive in december for a banned substance. but those results were not reported until after she