Young Star Rising to Olympic Glory
Jordan Stolz, widely regarded as the world’s top speedskater, made his Olympic debut at just 17 during the 2022 Winter Games in Beijing. The youngest male athlete on Team USA then, Stolz finished 13th in the 500-meter and 14th in the 1,000-meter races. Since that debut, he has dominated the ice.
Dominance on the World Stage
Stolz swept the 500-meter, 1,000-meter, and 1,500-meter events at the 2023 and 2024 World Championships. In January 2024, he set a world record in the 1,000-meter with a time of 1:05.37 and became the youngest male World Allround champion in 46 years. He also enters Milan riding a 14-race unbeaten streak in the 1,000-meter at the World Cup level.
“The preparation has been going well and my body feels good,” Stolz said last week. “There’s not much more I could ask for.”
Olympic Events and Historic Goals
In Milan, Stolz will compete for gold in the 500-meter, 1,000-meter, and 1,500-meter events, with the possibility of participating in the men’s mass start. Winning at least three gold medals would make him only the second American, after Eric Heiden, to achieve that feat at a single Winter Games.
Fierce Competition Awaits
The road to gold won’t be easy. Dutch skaters Jenning De Boo and Joep Wennemars are formidable rivals, with the Netherlands claiming the last three Olympic golds in the 1,000-meter. The last American man to win the 1,000-meter is Shani Davis, who took gold in 2006 and 2010.
Stolz said he stays focused despite the pressure. “I try to deal with it as if it’s just another race, so everything else around you is just extra noise,” he said. “There’s more pressure on this one because you’ve been training for it for four years, but at the end of the day, it’s going to the line and competing like usual.”
