Before the 500-m men’s event at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium on Saturday, American Olympic champion Jordan Stolz, who won the 1000-m race here three nights ago, had a conversation with Bob Corby, his coach. Corby reminded Stolz that even if his start time in this sprint trailed his competition, the race would be won on the backstretch. “So you’ve got to burn, like you’ve never burned before,” Corby said. “And then everything will be fine.”
[time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”]
Stolz brought the required fire to the Olympic ice, again, and he’s now a double-Olympic champ. He set a new Olympic record in the 500, finishing the race in 33.77 seconds, .11 seconds ahead of Dutch speedskater Jenning de Boo, with whom he was paired on the oval. The rivals also dueled in the 500, and de Boo finished second there too, behind Stolz, who also set an Olympic best-ever time in the 1,000.
Read more: U.S. Speedskater Jordan Stolz Sets a New Olympic Record
After crossing the finish line and looking up at the board to see his second-place time, a frustrated de Boo clutched his head, fell, and slid into the padded wall of the track, which seemed fitting. While back-to-back silvers are no small accomplishment, against Stolz, the Dutchman can’t seem to catch a break.
“I have a bit more of a bitter taste in my mouth than in the 1,000 meters, because I think the 500 is my best distance,” says de Boo, 22, who was not injured in his fall. “So this would have been the distance I should have done it at.”
Stolz’s time was also the fastest-ever 500 on sea level. The world record of 33.61 seconds, set by Russia’s Pavel Kulizhnikov in 2019, was in altitude, in a World Cup Final in Salt Lake City. Stolz is the first American Olympian to win two individual gold medals at a single Winter Games in 32 years; Bonnie Blair doubled in the 500 and 1,000 as well. Stolz is expected to win the 1,500 m on Feb. 19. If he pulls that off, a victory in the Feb. 21 mass start would give him four gold medals, just one short of American Eric Heiden’s record for most golds by a men’s speedskater at a single Olympics.
At least one competitor is already anointing Stolz, a seven-time world champ who’s just 21— and only halfway through the Olympic program in Milan—the best ever. “I think Jordan’s the greatest speedskater of all-time,” says Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil, who briefly held the Olympic record on Saturday, with a time of 34.26 seconds. But three pairs later, Stolz and de Boo both broke the 34-second barrier. Dubreuil finished with the bronze.
“Not a lot of guys open faster than him, and all those that do just die after 3[00], 400 meters,” says Dubreuil. “And he’s the huge favorite for the 1,500. If I raced a 1,500, I would finish last and wouldn’t even probably medal against the women. Because I’m training for 500. I’m just a sprinter. He’s good at everything. That’s what’s incredible. His ability to put power in the ice when all the other top sprinters are dead. It’s unbelievable to watch, but it’s not something I think we can copy. He’s just physically superior to us.”
After receiving his gold atop the podium, Stolz walked underneath the stands and embraced Heiden, who was at the race—as was Simone Biles, another GOAT. He also hugged his parents, Dirk and Jane, and his older sister Hannah. Stolz showed his family his newest hardware.
Hannah, older by a year, and Jordan both started skating on their family’s backyard frozen pond in Kewaskum, Wisconsin, after the 2010 Olympics; they loved watching Apolo Ohnoat those Games. By all accounts, Hannah was the better skater at first. They competed with each other on the pond, and on hunting and fishing trips. Hannah stopped skating, however, and pursued bird taxidermy. She’s won a national taxidermy titleand placed third at a recent world championship.
She’s still competing with little bro. “When I got third in the world championships with taxidermy, my medal and plaque was bigger than all of his World Championship medals,” says Hannah. “And heavier up until he got these gold medals. I wish I would have brought my medal, because we could compare them and really figure out whose is actually bigger. But I think this might have me on the weight.”
Backstage after the race, Heiden joked that he was thankful Stolz won’t suit up for the team pursuit, ensuring that Stolz can’t leave with more than four golds, thus keeping Heiden’s record intact. “Well, makes me want to do it now,” Stolz quipped back, when relayed Heiden’s remarks.
Heiden is widely regarded as the GOAT of his sport, a sort of Michael Jordan-like figure on the ice. But if people like Dubreuil want to throw Stolz in that conversation, it appears Heiden himself wouldn’t object.
“I’m proud to be mentioned in the same sentence as Jordan Stolz,” says Heiden. “That kid’s a stud.”
The post Jordan Stolz, Double Olympic Champion at 21, Could Already Be the Speedskating GOAT appeared first on TIME.
