Nickel: Jordan Stolz of Kewaskum makes history again, repeating as three-time world speedskating champion

The best speedskater in the world made history again.

For the second straight year, 19-year-old Jordan Stolz of Kewaskum won three gold medals in the ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships at the Calgary Olympic Oval over the weekend, successfully defending his long track titles in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters.

A year ago Stolz stunned the speedskating world when he won the same events and became the youngest skater to win a world title (18 last year) and the first man to win three individual golds at a single world championships.

Given the high expectations, his 2024 showing was all the more impressive.

But what’s even more impressive is that Stolz keeps topping the podium regardless of continent, venue, conditions, elite challengers – or distance.

Jordan Stolz started off weekend with second-fastest 500 meters ever

Stolz kicked off the weekend with a storm. On Friday, he skated the 500 in 33.69 seconds, the second-fastest time in history. Stolz's time was eight-hundredths of a second off Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov’s world record of 33.61, set in 2019.

Stolz's biggest competition was paired with him, but eventually Stolz was faster by 26 hundredths of a second over Canadian Laurent Dubreuil, who took silver behind Stolz for the second straight year. The bronze went to Damian Żurek of Poland.

Stolz and Debreuil opened in a flurry, with a 9.45-second split at the first turn. Stolz chased down Dubreuil on the backstretch before going into the last inner corner full speed. Stolz came out of a turn just a bit fast, though, and slipped off track slightly. He quickly recovered.

"I came into that turn with a lot of speed so it was hard staying on the blocks tight, but I did a good job of staying tight at the exit," Stolz said in a phone call Sunday night from Calgary. "So I kind of made up for that. I think it could have been a little bit better. Even if the conditions were better, maybe it could have even been the world record. But I can't really change what happened in that turn because that's going so fast. It's a speed you usually don't go, so it's hard to manage it."

Stolz was fortunate to be paired with Dubreuil, whom he likes. Stolz seems to rise to the occasion with a big crowd, and while the fans undoubtedly were cheering for Dubreuil, the noise adds to the excitement for both athletes.

"There's something about racing him – it's really nice," Stolz said with a laugh, adding: "I don't think he likes it."

But Dubreuil said it was the best race of his life – taking the silver behind Stolz – and that he enjoys the rivalry.

“It was the best start I've ever had, 9.45 seconds; in the last pair against the best skater of, at least, our generation," Dubreuil told the International Skating Union (ISU). "It's been two years in a row that I've won silver and he's won gold quite comfortably. Honestly, I don't mind that. We're in there for peak performance, and he's pushing the limits of the human body and his body is a bit better than my body clearly, but it helps me push myself.

“I respect him, and I hope he respects me half as much as I respect him. We're not enemies at all. Just the fact that we can consider it a rivalry means I'm a very, very good skater, because he's on another planet.”

Next up for Jordan Stolz was his best event, the 1,000 meters

On Saturday, Stolz lined up for the 1,000, the strongest distance in his young career so far, so it wasn't surprising that he took the gold medal with a track-record time of 1:06:05. It was just Jan. 26 when Stolz set the world record in the 1,000 in Salt Lake City.

Despite the result, Stolz said he felt some tightness in his legs and some fatigue that affected how he felt leading into the 1,000. He still cruised to a blistering 16.08 start, his fastest ever.

"I really wanted to go out with a fast start," Stolz said. "I was feeling a little bit tired from the 500. Not that it got my legs really tired, I think just shocked the nervous system a little bit. I actually felt better after the 1,000, like at 11 p.m. before bed, my legs started to recover."

Zhongyan Ning of China took second, 48 hundredths of a second behind Stolz, and Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands took third.

Jordan Stolz's final race, the 1,500 meters, was a challenge

Those big races led to great anticipation Sunday, and the 1,500 challenged Stolz a bit mentally, knowing the sequel to his gold medal hat trick was on the line.

"The 1,500 - felt a little nervous, not because of the race, but just because winning three gold medals again, it would be a pretty big thing," Stolz said.

But Stolz won the 1,500 as well after another strong start of 22.9, crossing the finish in 1:41.44. Nuis of the Netherlands took the silver, 1.22 seconds behind; the bronze went to Peder Kongshaug, of Norway. Nuis set the world record in the event four years ago.

It all means one year after Stolz became the first man to win three gold medals in a single world championships, he's now the first skater to defend those titles back-to-back. The single-distances championships began in 1996 and are held in non-Olympic years.

Jordan Stolz's accomplishments are exceptional and rare

Stolz has been gaining an international audience, finding crowd support in Canada and from race fans all over the world, including the speedskating-rich Dutch. He's impressive to watch and easy to like. Everyone marvels at what he's doing.

Stolz had been using the offseason and early World Cup season last fall and early winter to cross train with different distances, with the goal of possibly contending for the prestigious world allround competition. That's why some of his 500 sprint times a few months ago were not as fast as he is capable of racing, and why his fast times in February are so eye-popping.

Stolz had won his last eight World Cup races across the three distances entering the single-distances championships, a good barometer of his progress since this is an Olympic format style of racing. Stolz raced in Beijing in 2022 at just 17 years old, and as talented as he was then, he's grown leaps and bounds in two years. He's up for any challenge.

Jillert Anema is the coach for Team Albert Heijin Zaanlander, the Netherlands sponsor for Stolz. Team Zaanlander invited Stotz to train in their specialty – the longer distance races – in the offseason. Anema said what Stolz has done, winning three golds in the single-distances championships, is rare.

"And it's never been done back-to-back," Anema said via text message from Calgary. "In (Eric) Heiden days, there were no world single-distances championships. But (Heiden) won all five at the Olympics.

"There was only one person who had three world titles on the shortest distances, but not all three in one year. She was also skating for our team, and also American: Heather Richardson Bergsma."

For Stolz to beat five skaters from different countries, in three race distances all in the same weekend is exceptional. Some skaters have medal potential in the 500 and 1,000, or the 1,000 and 1,500; only Stolz can do all three.

"Most skaters do have a favorite distance and use their time to perfect this one distance," Anema said. "They don't feel the need or the urge to train their less-perfect distances.

"Eric Heiden was also young and stopped after four years at the top level. We hope to help Jordan to stay fit for a long time and be at the top level for a long time."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jordan Stolz repeats with three gold medals in world championships