Erin Jackson is hitting the ice hard.
With only 100 days until the Winter Olympics 2026 kick off on Feb. 6, the speed skater is eyeing a spot on Team USA for the third time. And before making it to the Milan-Cortina Games, the gold medalist revealed how she trains all year.
"Big picture, we are training from April through March," Erin—who will be competing at the Olympic Trials in January—told E! News in an exclusive joint interview with dermatologist Dr. Camille Howard-Verovic. "We get two weeks off—that's the last two weeks of March. Then we're always right back into it."
Over time, Erin and her coach Renee Hildebrand adjust her fitness program, noting that she's "doing a lot of long hours, training, high volume, a bit lower intensity" during summer.
"Then, that switches to where it's lower volume, higher intensity, and that's where we are now," she explained. "The next phase will be race season, and that starts in about two weeks. Then it's just all go until the games."
With the gold medalist's training fluctuating over the year, her diet has to follow suit.
"We try to aim for carbs pre-training, just to have some energy to burn," she explained. "Then, protein after training to rebuild the muscles that you break down during training."
"That's just very generally speaking," Erin emphasized. "There are ratios and things like that. It's not all carbs and all protein, but just making sure you hit those basic macros."
The 33-year-old—who began speed skating in 2017 after transitioning from inline skating—knows that prioritizing her mental health is just as essential as her physical health.
"The mental game is a really big part of a sport like mine, especially being so technical and so individual," she noted. "You have to be mentally prepared for what you're about to do. I would say I'm just pretty fortunate, I guess, to really enjoy pressure."
"The more pressure, the better," she shared. "I'm gonna have a lot of pressure going into these Games as the reigning Olympic champion. I feel like that's really gonna help push me to do what I need to do."
For Erin—who became the first Black woman ever to win gold in an individual sport at the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing—that also means giving herself "a lot of personal alone time."
"It's like a full-time job—just being switched on and training all day," she reflected. "So, it's nice to be able to come home and just relax on my couch, hang out with my pets, say hi to my dad and watch a little TV."
Simply put, "Having a lot of rest and recovery is the key."
A part of Erin's R&R was actually getting her eczema diagnosis.
"It just helps to know what's going on," she explained, adding, "It didn't really change my training, per se, more like my peace of mind when it comes to how I feel and how my skin feels when I'm training."
So, teaming up with Eli Lilly and Company—the makers of eczema treatment EBGLYSS—felt like a golden opportunity.
"It's just an authentic partnership because I do struggle with eczema," she noted. "It's a really good one when you're able to speak authentically about your experience."
Although eczema is among the most common skin conditions, Dr. Howard-Verovic knows it can be difficult for anyone to navigate—even an Olympian.
"I have eczema as well, and I feel that, similar to Erin, it's really important to be a voice out in the world of atopic dermatitis," she told E!. "People are out there experiencing this because it is one of the most common chronic inflammatory skin conditions, and they're just suffering."
"It's so common because everyone knows the word," she continued, "everyone says eczema, but there's so much more to learn about eczema and the things that can provide people with relief."
As Erin continues to train on the ice, keep reading for a look back at the 2022 Winter Olympics.