Nickel: World Allround Championships will be a grueling test of endurance for Jordan Stolz

Jordan Stolz is a bit of a thrill-seeker. He’s the rare, generational, super-talented athlete who can fold his 6-foot-1 frame into a torpedo stance, skate 40 miles per hour, control that power through curves, on blades, and finish a race in record time.

In his heart he’s a sprinter, in his soul he’s a speed freak. Fast and furious. Done, gone, bye.

So the fact the teenager from Kewaskum isn’t willing to settle for doing the thing he’s best at – the thing that he loves – says something about his competitive drive, dedication and work ethic.

Stolz, 19, is pursuing one of the most prestigious speedskating titles there is: world allround champion.

Established in 1893, the world allround champion is crowned after 24 of the best skaters on the planet dig their blades in for the 500-meter sprint, the 1,500-meter middle distance fight, and then the 5,000-meter and 10,000-meter long-distance slogs. A Samalog – speedskating scoring system – determines the winner with a somewhat complicated point system, with the best combined points result over four distances. The winner, traditionally, is the undisputed world champ.

Decades and generations ago, this was a different race for the Americans. Madison native Eric Heiden was the most decorated and won three titles in the late 1970s. Shani Davis did well too, winning twice nearly 20 years ago. But in the era of specialized skating in 2024, the world allround event favors the long-distance skaters and masters of the long haul.

Stolz has been in Germany with his coach, Bob Corby, since late February in preparation for the World Speed Skating Allround & Sprint Championships, which take place Thursday through Sunday in Inzell. Stolz races the final two days only: the 500 and 5,000 on Saturday and the 1,500 and 10,000 on Sunday. (The sprint championships are Thursday and Friday.)

The event will be broadcast / televised / livestreamed on Peacock, NBC's streaming service.

To appreciate how Stolz got here, and the demands of what he’s facing, it’s best to look at the last year, and even two years, that built up to this point.

A spark two years ago led to a bigger goal for Jordan Stolz

Two years ago Stolz started experimenting and realized he had sprinter and distance legs, and the willingness to race anything. He was young and it was fun, then. There was no ceiling for his talent.

But it got really serious last spring, when Corby suspected that Stolz would have the strength, stamina and discipline to be so physically fit that he could tear through the ISU World Cup circuit races all winter and other international events as well as train for one of the final events of the season, the World Allround Championships.

“He is just flying. He can do anything. It's just unbelievable,” Corby said then.

Long gone are the days when Stolz wrestled with the zipper on his skin suit – mid-race – and still skated fast enough to turn heads within the skating community. Or when he slammed the Kefir too soon before a race – and couldn't keep it down.

In January 2022, with the COVID pandemic dragging on and closing down the world, Stolz qualified for the Olympic team during the trials in Milwaukee. The audience – including Stolz’s parents – was locked out to practice safe distancing. Stolz was only 17 then, but he was the strongest male speedskater representing the United States in the Beijing Olympics.

But those Games were really hard. Stolz and all the athletes lived and competed with strict lockdown rules and Stolz’s own coach and parents weren’t even allowed to travel with him. Stolz had the U.S. Speedskating staff to rely on, but they’re Utah-based, and he’s a Wisconsin guy. China was not fun. He didn’t have the food and nutrition he needed. He still managed to finish in the middle of the pack in the 500 and 1,000 sprint races.

“The Olympics were depressing and too tough an environment for a 17-year-old,” Corby said. “He didn't like the Olympics because it was like being in jail. He could never leave his suite. And that's why he doesn’t want to go back there."

Ever since then, the kid who likes to fish once in a while, and who just got his driver’s license, has been on a tear.

After an impressive World Cup racing season last year, Stolz took gold in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 at the ISU World Single Distances Championships and made history – twice. He was the youngest ever, at 18 years and almost 10 months, to win a race when he took gold in the 500. And he was the first ever to sweep all three of the shorter distances.

Jordan Stolz has had even more incredible finishes this season

As a 19-year-old, Stolz has been on fire from start to finish this racing season, beginning in Milwaukee and then all over the globe. You just had to know what to look for with him, and know the plan.

He set the world record in the 1,000 meters in January at the ISU World Cup at the Olympic Oval with a sizzling time of 1:05.37.

He skated the second-fastest 500 meters in February at the Single Distances World Championships with a 33.69, and proceeded to repeat as three-time champion with his gold-medal performances in that race as well as the 1,000 and 1,500.

Stolz collected hardware during the World Cup season and other events. At the Four Continents championships in Salt Lake on Jan. 21, he won the 1,000. In Poland he also took gold in the 1,000 and took silver in the 1,500.

Stolz also skated the 5,000 meters and posted a respectable 6:29.92, the fastest American in that race by far. Stolz would be faster in every race throughout the year, but he showed his commitment to the allround.

Stolz faced a couple of small tests early and persevered. In a World Cup in Japan, in the first 500, Stolz’s skating pair, Sebastian Deniz, fell. But Stolz held on to skate well in his second 500. Tied with his pair from Japan, Yuma Murakami, Stolz stretched out his leg at the finish to grind out a bronze medal.

In December 2023, Stolz had to race in the B division because he elected to skip the previous week’s World Cup venue in China. He rebounded anyway in Norway with a fast 1,000, and then won the 1,500 and set a track record.

In one World Cup he took the 500 title in 34.51, less than an hour after winning the 1,500.

Stolz is not easily rattled, he would prove, time and time again. Stolz had been alternating between sprint racing blades and distance racing blades so often that he stripped the bolt on his Paul Marchese boots. He had to race without his favorites for weeks while friend Mark Yanagihara helped with a creative fix with a new bolt. Stolz got the best blades back just days before he broke the world record in the 1,000.

"Mark was like, I got this idea and he called up Paul," Corby said. "I'm just going to run a bolt all the way through this thing and then Paul was like, yeah, go ahead. Jordan skated on it two times (in practice) and broke the world record in 1,000 meters."

Of course, in October Stolz kicked off the season when he put down a 1:42.31 in the 1,500 in Milwaukee, a world record at sea level/lowland.

“He's pretty much unbelievable,” Corby said. “He does stuff almost two or three times a week that I just shake my head and go, 'what in the world?'

“Like that world record for 1,500 meters at sea level. No one has ever skated faster; the old record was 1:43 flat. After the race, I go, ‘Hey, were you trying that hard?’ He just gets a big smile on his face and he goes, 'Nah. I tried really hard to get up to speed but once I got up to speed, I was like, yeah, you know, I'll  just cruise here.’"

Some second-guessing on Jordan Stolz's path to the allround

Stolz’s training and focus in the offseason through October and November were to push himself in all distances. Naturally then, Stolz didn’t win every race he entered early on, because he was playing the long game, with allround always in the back of his mind while staying sharp enough in the sprints to remain a frontrunner.

And maybe that led to some second-guessing within the very small skating community. ISU live-streamed the World Cup action on YouTube all winter. Some of the comments from analysts:

“All we know is, he didn’t win.”

“No golds for Stolz.”

“Stolz the American. Can we call him a phenom? We’ll see.”

“There’s a difference between pre-race skating times and World Cup racing.”

Perhaps there was also some debate as to whether Stolz’s all-around training from the 500 to the 10,000 was the best strategy for a young skater.

“Apparently he can’t stop racing. Jordan Stolz is also getting ready for the 5,000.”

“He disappointed a little yesterday in the 500, and the 1,000, especially the 1,000. Hopefully he can make up for it today.”

Maybe the most curious comment of all came from Kjeld Nuis, who said, through a less-than-perfect translation, that Stolz skated one 1,500 race “cowardly.” It was even covered in a videocast.

Gone are the days that Stolz could fly under the radar; all eyes have been on him since Beijing. But he and Corby stuck with the plan.

It all comes down to Jordan Stolz's training plan

Stolz shouldn’t be underestimated because he’s only 19. He knows the sport’s history, he has a strategy, he's informed about his competition. He’s also very smart and dedicated to the sciences that help fuel his talent.

Last offseason, he trained in Montana and the Netherlands, thanks to his sponsor, Team Albert Heijn Zaanlander, with efficient but difficult high-altitude workouts that allowed him to come in to the World Cup qualifiers in October in great shape.

"More blood cells, that was the main purpose,” of altitude training, Stolz said. “The hardest part getting back into the skating season is within the first month because the legs just aren't used to being in the down in position and in constant laps. With the extra red blood cells you can recover faster and you get more of a base to work with. And you basically can train your body to go harder. More red blood cells bring more oxygen to the muscles. So the more you have, the harder you can train. "

Stolz is a workout warrior and he also got stronger and built more muscle mass, adding about 10 pounds of lean muscle from his Olympic year racing weight. Stolz is aware that his body will keep changing as he matures, and he’s got a feel for how much weight and muscle he wants to have on his 6-foot-1 frame. But it all comes down to his training plan (he is, by the way, ridiculously fast on the road bike).

"There's a fine line and I think I can kind of feel it sometimes,” Stolz said. “Like, it's more so about how much fast twitch muscle fibers you have, and slow twitch.

“If I were to just lift weights and not ride the bike, that'd be a problem. I would get more muscular and not have the same endurance. And if I were to just ride the bike, I would lose muscle and just get skinny and have good endurance.

“You kind of have to match between how much muscle you want to have and still have good endurance. The more muscle you have, the more oxygen you have to get there. And if you don't have enough, you're just not going to have good endurance.”

Stolz is particular about a few things, including the two blades that carry him around the oval. Whether he is using his sprint blades or his distance blades for the 5,000 and 10,000 that give him a little more control, he sharpens his own.

"He wouldn't let me sharpen his skates for $1,000," Corby laughs and laughs.

This could be Jordan Stolz's only shot at allround championship

The World Allround Championships happen every other year. It is unlikely Stolz will try to compete for the 2026 title because he likely will be at the Winter Olympics in Italy.

So that makes this year and this world allround very special, especially given how far he’s come in two years.

Stolz will be strong in the first race, the 500. It will give him an early lead in the points standings. Same with the 1,500.

The question will be, can he build a big enough lead with those short races to fend off the challengers at the 5,000 and 10,000? He doesn’t have the same kind of endurance for those longer races that he did in December, because he was focused on – and medaling in – the sprint and middle distance race.

He's practiced the 10,000 with Corby 10 times in the last season, but not recently. He couldn’t, because again, he was focused on the short distance in World Cup racing. Stolz has been training as hard as he can while also trying not to exhaust himself or create a need for a big recovery.

"The only thing I have been able to do is try and stimulate the nervous system by getting on the bike and getting the aerobic in – and get my legs used to going for a long time again,” Stolz said.

The thrill of repeating with three gold medals at the World Single Distances Championships has not worn off, but Stolz had to remain committed for this very different event. It’s a credit to him and may be building his mental strengths as a racer.

"I don't like doing 5 and 10K; I'd rather just go out and do 500,” Stolz said with a little laugh. “Especially when you start going faster and skating without even thinking, it's so much nicer just to do 500, 1,000 and 1,500. A 5K – it’s not that the pain that bothers me. But just the duration of the race. It's just not fun.

"We were kind of focusing on allrounds mainly, but we were able to get three good races in,” Stolz said, referring to the golds in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500. “It kind of feels satisfying that I already have three gold medals, but I still have to remember what I trained for all summer and pretty much all winter."

That means, when Thursday and Friday are the sprints of the world championships where skaters race the 500 and the 1,000 once each, on both days; Stolz won't be competing in those (though he sure wanted to).

"That was another dilemma, like, should we try? Because Jordan could roll out of bed in the morning and, you know, eat a doughnut and win the world championships he's so good," Corby said.

Heiden didn't fit a category. He was winning the sprints and winning the distances. But the reason it's so hard for a sprinter like Stolz is because in the allround there's only one sprint race, one middle distance and two distance races.

"I was telling him: You have nothing to prove. Everyone knows you're the best sprinter on the planet," Corby said. "But winning the World Allround Championships – to have a sprinter win that? That's a big deal. Put all your eggs in one basket and go for it. Because it is the hardest thing to win in speedskating."

This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Jordan Stolz will race World Allround Championships