Entering the 2026 Winter Olympics, Jordan Stolz was one of the members of Team USA expected to become a household name by the end of the games.
He delivered in his first event.
For the past few seasons, Jordan Stolz has dominated the speed skating sprinting events. He entered the 2026 Winter Olympics having won every single 1,000- and 1,500-meter race during the World Cup season, and five of the nine 500-meter races. This comes in the wake of Stolz sweeping the sprint distances at the World Championships in both 2023 and 2024, and he won the full-season title at all three distances last season.
Up first for Stolz was the 1,000-meter race in Milano Cortina on Wednesday, the first of his four events, where he was identified as the favorite in each. He also entered Wednesday’s race as the current world-record holder at that distance, which he set back in January of 2024.
The American had to wait, as he was slotted in the 14th of 15 pairs in the event. Hometown hero Daniele di Stefano set the early time to beat in the fifth pairing with a 1:08.17, but then came the Dutch pair of Kjeld Nuis in the tenth pair, and Joep Wennemars in the 11th pairing. Nuis jumped into the top spot with a 1:07.65, only to see his countryman nip that effort with a 1:07.58 in the very next pairing.
Then came Ning Zhongyan of China in the 12th pairing, one of the flag bearers for his nation at the 2026 Games and a 1,500-meter specialist. But he delivered a very strong 1:07.34, putting himself in position for a medal as he jumped ahead of the Dutch pair to top the timing sheet.
Finally, the stage was Stolz’s.
And he delivered, in a pairing against his biggest rival Jenning de Boo from the Netherlands.
The 21-year-old jumped out to a solid start, and surged ahead out of the first corner. But after the Dutch skater took the lead from him into the final lap, Stolz responded with an epic final push, rocketing to the line with a time of 1:06.28, a new Olympic record by almost a full second. It also placed him a half-second ahead of De Boo.
Stolz had to wait out the final pairing — Marten Liiv from Estonia and Poland’s Damian Zurek — to clinch his gold. Zurek had already defeated Stolz in the 500-meter a few weeks ago, but Zurek could not catch his rival, crossing the line with a 1:07.41, only good for fourth.
Stolz was off to a golden start, with the largest margin of victory in the 1,000-meter since the 1984 Winter Olympics.
But it was not yet official.
Stolz needed to wait out a re-skate from Wennemars. The Dutch skater was impeded during his run on a lane change with China’s Lian Ziwen, and was afforded an opportunity to go again. Replays showed a tense exchange between the two skaters after their pairing. Following a sing-along to “Call Me Maybe” set in motion by the venue’s DJ, Wennemars finished his warm-up and took to the starting line for his re-skate.
With every set of eyes on him and him alone, Wennemars attacked the ice on his reskate. The 23-year-old gave it everything he had, but could not improve upon his previous time, and finished off the podium.
And Stolz’s gold was official. Here’s the medal stand:
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