Jordan Stolz caps historic speed skating season with the sport's most storied title
American Jordan Stolz capped one of the best speed skating seasons of all time by winning the sport's most storied event in world record fashion.
Stolz, a 19-year-old from Wisconsin, became the youngest man to win the world allround championships since the second of American Eric Heiden’s three consecutive titles in 1978.
Stolz distanced Dutchman Patrick Roest, a three-time world allround champion, by 1.021 points combining results from the 500m and 5000m on Saturday and the 1500m and 10,000m on Sunday in Inzell, Germany.
His point total — 144.740 — was the best in the history of the allround championships, which date officially to 1893.
Stolz ends his season having broken his first world record (1000m), skated a fastest time in history at sea level (1500m), swept the 500m, 1000m and 1500m at February's world championships for a second consecutive year and now claiming the allround title.
Allround worlds crown the world's best all-around speed skater. The 500m is a sprint. The 1500m is a middle distance. The 5000m and 10,000m are distance races.
Stolz, who rarely skates anything longer than 1500m, recognized the event's significance in choosing it rather than the world sprint championships, also in Inzell, that were Thursday and Friday.
Stolz would have been the overwhelming favorite at sprint worlds given he is the second-fastest man in history in the 500m and the world record holder in the 1000m, the two sprint distances.
Instead, Stolz wanted to test himself at allrounds, which favors distance skaters over sprinters. Stolz and Heiden are the only men since World War II to pair an Olympic or world 500m title with a world allround title.
Stolz measured himself against Roest, who ranks No. 1 all-time in the the Adelskalender, a skating ranking based on personal-best times in the 500m, 1500m, 5000m and 10,000m.
Stolz began the season not having an Adelskalender ranking because he had never skated a 10,000m.
After debuting at the 10,000m in January, he entered allround worlds fourth on the Adelskalender list behind Roest and two recently retired legends: American Shani Davis and Dutchman Sven Kramer.
Stolz finished allround worlds second on the Adelskalender list, missing overtaking Roest by less than a second in his second career 10,000m, a 13-minute race, on Sunday.
