Nickel: Why did Wisconsin speedskater Jordan Stolz 'break' that world record the way he did?
Jordan Stolz broke Pavel Kulizhnikov’s record: literally, and then, symbolically.
Stolz, the 19-year-old speedskater from Kewaskum, scorched the ice last Friday in the 1,000-meter race at the ISU World Cup at the Utah Olympic Oval.
Despite unfavorable air pressure conditions, which can affect racing, Stolz destroyed the world record by the Russian, clocking in at 1:05.37 – a whopping .32 seconds faster than Kulizhnikov’s record set in 2020.
More: Kewaskum's Jordan Stolz had a record-setting weekend in World Cup speed skating. Here's a recap.
And then, Stolz had a little fun.
As is custom for new record holders in a ceremonial gesture, Stolz went up to the board at the rink where world records are displayed, and removed Kulizhnikov’s banner.
Stolz then snapped it in half and tossed it away, as if he were clearing brush on his home property in rural Wisconsin.
Then Stolz told the U.S. Speedskating social media team with a grin: "I guess I'm ready for Pavel now. Where is he?"
What’s the story?
Stolz is not an easy guy to track down. When he was a 17-year-old phenom at the Olympics, he preferred to stay low key. There are a lot of reasons for this, and it was really a smart approach.
But as Stolz’s profile has grown – he’s a three-time world champion from 11 months ago, and a regular national and international track record setter and a household name in the speed skating haven of the Netherlands – he’s gotten more comfortable expressing himself. It was always clear he was dedicated and disciplined. But we might be seeing the emergence of a resolute competitor.
Was he trying to send a message?
“Um … I think … I guess I was kind of sending a message – not on purpose,” said Stolz. “But I think most people want me to break it.”
Stolz left it at that.
But the backstory of Stolz's world record performance is that Kulizhnikov was busted for doping. Twice.
Kulizhnikov had won five world championship gold medals since the start of 2015 and had been the world record-holder over 500 meters when he tested positive for meldonium, it was announced in 2016. Previously, he’d served a two-year ban after a positive test for the stimulant methylhexanamine.
More: D'Amato: Does Russia's Olympics punishment fit the crime? Nyet
Russian skaters caught cheating – sound familiar? This was also in the news all week.
The International Skating Union banned Russian figure skater Kamila Valieva after she was caught cheating at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. Valieva was found to have tested positive for the banned heart medication trimetazidine.
Clearly, in any sport and especially in a sport like Stolz’s, in which tenths of a second separate the most elite athletes in the world, there’s a lot of pride in those accomplishments when they are achieved cleanly and derision when they are not. Stolz raced in front of a huge crowd last weekend that was very vocal in cheering him on every step of the way.
"I really enjoyed that. Getting a world record on home ice – it was just really special," said Stolz.
So how did Jordan Stolz put together a dominant World Cup weekend?
Stolz swept away the skating world last weekend. He collected a world record, two national records, four gold medals in his prime events, the 500, 1000 (twice) and the 1,500. Also, take note, that Stolz still managed to skate the 5,000 meters and take 15th place, which he did a mere 20 minutes after taking the gold medal in the 1,000.
Frankly ever since Stolz completed in February 2022 in the Olympics in China, in which he was out of his element, away from his coach and family and struggling to adapt to the living circumstances of COVID restrictions, Stolz has been lighting up the speedskating world. He swept the world championships. He's been setting tracks records and personal records.
But last weekend, Stolz attributes his monumental success to two specific factors. One, he felt great. Two, his blades worked.
“I was feeling really good,” said Stolz during a phone interview Tuesday. “I did have some blade things going on. I had stripped a thing on my blade and I wasn't able to use them.”
The problem arose several weeks ago when Stolz was training in Norway and then competed in the World Cup event in Poland. While using backup blades, Stolz was able to work with a friend to fix his preferred skating blades, with unique threading modification, and Stolz returned to these blades for racing last weekend.
"I was able to start using the blades I'm used to again, and I think that made the biggest difference,” he said. "Once I got in the new blades I just felt really good on the ice, really connected.
“And I think all the training that I've been doing – before the World Cup, in the trials, it was a lot of a lot of work – I rested after that. And that really set me up a for a good feeling.
“But I wasn't expecting a world record at all.”
Stolz also set a national record in the 500. This is incredible too; while he is a sprinter at this stage of his career, Stolz has been pushing himself mercilessly in races of all distances, sprint, midrange and long haul. Like that 5,000. So in World Cup races over the last two months or so, it was understandable if Stolz's 500 time was just a bit slower than his goal.
But last weekend it was remarkable: 33.96. Only five other skaters have achieved a sub-34 second time to hold a world record status: (Hiroyasu Shimizu of Japan, Jeremy Wotherspoon of Canada, Joji Kato of Japan, Lee Kang-seok of Korea, and Kulizhnikov).
"I wasn't expecting it to be that good in the 500 either," said Stolz. "But I think just naturally I'm good at sprinting. So when I take like maybe two weeks of more speed training, it just kind of sets in a bit more. It's more natural."
Stolz is still racing in the ISU World Cup, which is in Quebec City this week. The single distance championships are in two weeks and he's continuing to challenge himself with his training to consider the World Allround competition.
More: Nickel: After Jordan Stolz takes four golds, and a silver, it's time to consider new goals
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Nickel: Why speedskater Jordan Stolz 'broke' that world record
