Erin Jackson’s Need for Speed, Ben Rhodes on Olympic politics, Michael Vick’s Where Were They Then?

Erin Jackson grew up competing in inline skating and roller derby as a rink rat in Ocala, Fla. Now, she’s America’s best hope for gold in long-track speed skating at the Winter Olympics. Considered a sure bet to make the U.S. team, Jackson slipped during qualifying and nearly missed the games until a fateful decision made by her childhood idol, Brittany Bowe, gave her a ticket to back to the Olympics. Senior writer Stephanie Apstein wrote SI’s cover story on Erin Jackson and tells us about her incredible journey from Florida to Beijing.

SI Cover story: Erin Jackson Is Ready to Make a Statement on Ice

As the sports spotlight shifts to Beijing, not all invited guests are showing up to the party. Along with Great Britain, Canada and Australia, the United States is enacting a “diplomatic boycott” of the Beijing games, which means no government officials will attend, though athletes will still compete. With critics like French President Emmanuel Macron dismissing these efforts as “insignificant,” Ben Rhodes is here to tell us why the conversation around these Beijing games is already very different from 2008, the last time China hosted the Olympics. Rhodes served as deputy national security adviser for the Obama administration, and he’s cohost of Crooked Media’s Pod Save the World.

Follow SI Olympics Coverage

Before Michael Vick was a household name, he was a kid focused on football growing up in Newport News, Va. It’s at nearby Virginia Tech where SI first caught a glimpse of his star on the rise. Vick describes what life was like when he stood on the brink of being selected first in the 2001 NFL draft, fulfilling his and his family’s wildest dreams.

SI Vault: Virginia Tech's Michael Vick Is a Marvel Without an Ego

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