Gold medallist Jordan Stolz of the U.S. celebrates after the lads’s 1,000 meters speedskating race on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.
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Ben Curtis/AP
MILAN — Jordan Stolz pictured this second most of his life, ever since he was 5 and studying to skate on a frozen pond in his Wisconsin yard after falling in love with speedskating whereas watching the 2010 Winter Olympics on TV — and hoping to someday step atop the rostrum himself.
So what was the little problem of a 10-plus-minute wait to verify this primary speedskating gold medal formally could be his Wednesday? Particularly as a result of, as Stolz would say later, “I did not assume anyone was going to beat that point.”
Stolz wanted to carry off on a celebratory lap with a U.S. flag till one other competitor bought the prospect for a re-skate, then quickly sufficient was capable of smile whereas leaning ahead to obtain his gold for profitable the lads’s 1,000 meters on the Milan Cortina Video games in an Olympic-record time because of a blistering closing stretch.
“It was only a feeling like, ‘You lastly did it,'” mentioned the 21-year-old Stolz, who was trailing silver medalist Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands with 400 meters to go. “It virtually would not appear actual, proper?”
Stolz’s father, Dirk, plowed away snow on their pond all these years in the past in order that little Jordan and his older sister, Hannah, may skate — over the objections of their mom, Jane. Once they all gathered after Wednesday’s race, Dirk mentioned, “He confirmed me (the medal) and mentioned, ‘I lastly bought it!'”
Jordan Stolz of the U.S. competes to win the gold medal within the males’s 1,000 meters speedskating race on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.
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Now Stolz will hope to maintain going and add to his assortment of trophies: He is entered in three extra occasions in Milan.
“Effectively, it is arduous to say, ‘Oh, I may win 4 gold medals,’ when you have not gained one but. Now that I’ve gained one, I type of know what to anticipate and may type of really feel like how the group is, with the vitality, and the ice,” he mentioned. “So it may be good.”
Skating within the next-to-last pairing at Milano Velocity Skating Stadium, a short lived facility constructed for these Olympics, Stolz completed in 1 minute, 6.28 seconds.
That did not threaten his world document of 1:05.37 however did higher the Olympic commonplace of 1:07.18 that stood since 2002. All 4 lengthy monitor speedskating races in Milan have been gained within the quickest instances ever turned in at an Olympics.
De Boo ended up a half-second slower; nobody else got here inside a full second of Stolz. Zhongyan Ning of China bought the bronze.
“He is only a killer on the final lap,” mentioned Bob Corby, Stolz’s coach.
Stolz’s medal was his first at this degree: As a 17-year-old on the 2022 Beijing Video games, he was 14th within the 1,000 and thirteenth within the 500.
It additionally was the primary medal of any kind within the males’s 1,000 for america because the 2010 Vancouver Video games. That is when Shani Davis — a mentor and, at one level, a coach to Stolz — gained his second consecutive gold in that occasion, and Chad Hedrick bought the bronze. Dutch males had gained the 1,000 at every of the previous three Winter Video games.
Snoop canine and five-time olympic gold medallist former pace skater Eric Heiden of the U.S. watch the lads’s 1,000 meters speedskating race on the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Wednesday, Feb. 11, 2026.
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With Eric Heiden, the one speedskater to win 5 golds at one Olympics, sitting subsequent to rapper Snoop Dogg within the stands, Stolz pulled forward of de Boo by the point one full lap was executed. Then de Boo moved in entrance and was nonetheless there on the 600-meter mark.
However Stolz zoomed forward across the ultimate nook and crossed the road first along with his arms on his knees, then rose for an understated pump of his proper hand.
“I had excessive hopes. However his final lap is simply unbelievable,” de Boo mentioned. “I heard him coming at 800 meters, after which I simply knew it was too late.”
Stolz entered the day as a giant favourite.
He holds the 1,000 world document and is a two-time world champion on the distance. Plus, he went 5-for-5 on the World Cup circuit this season within the occasion, confirming his standing as the person to beat on the Olympics.
“Every little thing up till at the moment was nothing. It was simply: ‘Eh, it is a common meet.’ We prepare. We get set. We relaxation. And we’re skating good in practices,” Corby mentioned. “After he sat down after the race, he was type of like, ‘Wow. This can be a fairly large deal.’ I used to be like, ‘Yeah, it’s.'”
Up subsequent: Stolz races the five hundred on Saturday, the 1,500 on Feb. 19, and the mass begin on Feb. 21.
Stolz’s identify is commonly talked about alongside that of Heiden, the one speedskater to assert 5 lengthy monitor gold medals at a single Winter Video games. On the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, Heiden gained the five hundred, 1,000, 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000.
Stolz is flattered to listen to such comparisons but in addition fast to notice that what Heiden achieved was remarkably completely different, masking 5 distances. Stolz may add the longer occasions to his repertoire down the street; for now, he’s one of the best there’s within the sprints.
“One gold medal is large sufficient, proper? It will be tremendous good to have two, three, proper?” Stolz mentioned. “However simply having one means so much.”
