Imagine training for years, even decades, to compete for several seconds. These several seconds are crucial in accomplishing one’s goal of being on the podium--being an Olympian. While many of us may find this idea of dedicating endless hours to a sport we just MIGHT qualify for the Olympics is time-consuming and exhausting, others treasure and live for these moments. And since it is an Olympic year, the dreams of being a medal winner are not far off for some.

This year, the Winter Olympic games are being held in Pyeongchang, South Korea from February 9th to February 25th. The Winter Olympics are held every four years, for sports on snow and ice. This category includes ice hockey, figure skating, speed skating, curling, bobsleigh, alpine skiing, and many more.

The first Winter Olympic Games were held in 1924 in Chamonix, France. The original five sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The games were held every four years, which briefly stopped during the Second World War (1940-1944) and continued in 1948. The Summer and Winter Olympic Games were held in the same years until 1992. In 1986, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) decided to “place the Summer and Winter Games on separate four-year cycles in alternating even-numbered years, the next Winter Olympics after 1992 was in 1994.”

The United States has been a participant in 22 Winter Olympics and has hosted four of them. According to official data of the IOC, the United States is the second-most medal winning nation in the Winter Games, trailing Norway.

Aiding in the United States’ chase for medals this year is the stand-out speedskater, Erin Jackson. Jackson is the first black woman to make an Olympic team for long-track speedskating. Her journey to the top has been slightly different from others. Although she has been an inline skater for 15 years, Jackson only began training on ice four months prior to the Olympic Qualifiers.

Before skating on ice, Jackson competed and medaled in several speed skating competitions and was named the United States Olympic Committee Female Athlete of the Year in 2012 and 2013. In 2015, she added roller derby to her repertoire and has since been a member of the Jacksonville RollerGirls within the Women’s Flat Track Derby Association.

The 25-year-old, University of Florida alumna told NBC Sports, “I really wasn’t expecting any of this, just coming in as a newbie, [I’m] just trying to do the best I can.”

Jackson placed third in the 500-meter race behind veterans Brittany Bowe and Heather Bergsma to secure her spot on the U.S. national team, clocking in at 39.04 seconds. Her qualifying time became her new personal best. Her previous was 39.51 seconds which she set December 23 in Salt Lake City.

“A couple weeks ago, I was still in the 40s,” Jackson stated. “I think I hadn’t even broken 40 (seconds) yet, so it all happened really fast.”

She will join Maame Biney who recently became the first black woman to make the Olympic team for short-track speedskating and long-tracker Shani Davis, the first black athlete to qualify in 2002, who will make his fifth Olympic appearance.