Speedskater Jordan Stolz wins 500 for 2nd gold

MILAN — For some time now, Jordan Stolz’s talent and dominance as a speed skater, as well as his highly anticipated potential for Olympic success, have prompted many people to repeatedly mention his name — prematurely, arguably — alongside that of Eric Heiden. Now they really belong in the same sentence, at least in one respect.

Stolz established himself as a two-time Olympic gold medalist, halfway to his goal of four at the Milan Cortina Games, by winning the 500 meters on Saturday to follow up his victory in the 1,000. Those two triumphs allowed Stolz, a 21-year-old from Wisconsin, to join Heiden as the only men to achieve the 500-1,000 double in speed skating at a single Olympics.

“I mean, I guess it’s halfway there, but it’s hard to say there’s a 50 percent chance of getting the other two,” Stolz said. “Because you never know what can happen.”

After the ‘Olympic curse’ hits Ilia Malinin during her free skate, the ‘God of the Quad’ sets his sights on the future

Heiden, of course, ran a record five individual events at the 1980 Lake Placid Games for the United States, winning everything from the 500 to the 10,000.

With Heiden in the stands on Saturday, Stolz finished the 500m in an Olympic record time of 33.77 seconds after also setting a Games record in his 1000m victory. Both times, the silver medal went to Jenning do Boo of the Netherlands, who clocked 33.88 in the shortest speed skating event. Both times they faced each other in the same round.

“We push each other. He’s really strong. I’m really strong too. It’s really cool to see,” Stolz said. “I guess I like being paired up. It makes things more fun for the viewers.”

Stolz thought the 500m would be his toughest test in Milan. He was in the lead coming out of the last corner. They were even starting the last stretch. But Stolz, who overcame a deficit in the 1,000, picked up the speed and leaned back to the line first. De Boo then slipped and fell against the wall, while Stolz skated over and clenched his right fist.

Canadian Laurent Dubreuil won the bronze medal in 34.26.

The last American to win Olympic gold in the men’s 500m was Joey Cheek in 2006.

The soft-spoken Stolz acknowledged that, yes, his goals are lofty and, of course, he is flattered by the comparisons to Heiden. But Stolz, who is not entered in the 5,000 or 10,000 in Milan, also knows he’s not trying to recreate the same kind of unprecedented, all-encompassing performance achieved by Heiden.

Still, Stolz has a real chance of winning four medals, maybe even four golds, which he is aiming for at his second Winter Games.

“He goes to the starting line,” said Heiden, who is also a Wisconsin native and, like Stolz, learned to skate on a frozen backyard pond, “and I suspect he thinks he’s probably going to win.”

Heiden greeted Stolz as he left the ice with the gold medal after the 500 and gave him a hug.

The first gold medal? Stolz’s father, Dirk, said Jordan slept with this pillow on his pillow the night after the 1,000m.

“You see some athletes, just mentally – they might be all there physically, but all of a sudden the pressure comes in and it affects their performance,” Dirk Stolz said. “And I don’t see it much with Jordan.

In Beijing in 2022, at just 17 years old, Stolz finished 13th in the 500m and 14th in the 1000m. Since then, however, he has established himself as the best in the world at his sport, notably winning two world titles each in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500. And at present, Stolz is so far living up to the inflated expectations and pressure that accompanies each of his strides on the ice of the Milan Speed ​​Skating Stadium, a temporary facility created for this event.

Two races, two gold medals, two Olympic records.

“It seems like he doesn’t get tired,” Dubreuil said. “I really don’t understand how this is possible for anyone.”

There are now two more races remaining for six-time world champion Stolz: the 1,500 meters on Thursday and the mass start on February 21.

The last man to win three speed skating gold medals at the Winter Games was Norway’s Johann Olav Koss, who won the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 at the 1994 Lillehammer Games.

Stolz took to the ice to warm up Saturday about 2 1/2 hours before his race. He stopped at one point to sit on the low boards along the ice, pulling up his black and green skates and smiling while chatting with his coach, Bob Corby.

No signs of nervousness. None.

“I wouldn’t say it’s a walk in the park,” Stolz said. “I still have to do the right things.”