Faster and stronger, Jordan Stolz plans to speed up this season and top the World Cup: "I am able to stay ahead of them"
The 20-year world 1000m record holder spoke to Olympics.com on his meticulous feeling for blades and his desire to go even quicker this season as he targets his second Olympics at Milano Cortina 2026.
Speed Skating
Jordan Stolz has an astonishing feel for the ice, a skill level that makes him one of the best in speed skating.
Unlike many skaters, he is not obsessed with just skating fast or feeling good on ice, his focus is usually on getting his blades right to boost his performance.
“I have made changes to the blades,” he says in an interview with Olympics.com of his sensory preparation just before he left for the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Japan scheduled for 22–24 November, “so, hopefully that should convert to some easy free speed.”
His inherent speed advantage has been key in achieving the powerful strides and intricate techniques, that helped him win a historic world allround title last season, the youngest man to win it since Eric Heiden in 1978.
“I'll try and defend those three titles again as I've done the past two times,” he continues, of his dominance of the men’s sprint 500m, 1500m, and 5000m on long track ovals.
“But this year I’d like to place higher in the overall ranking, overall World Cup points. That's something I haven't won yet.”
Jordan Stolz hopes to continue his dominance of the men’s sprint 500m, 1500m and 5000m.
Jordan Stolz on his quest to finding the perfect blades: 'Converts to easy free speed'
The American has had a good pre-season, weight training and feeling the pressure on his blades, perfecting his already excellent technical pattern.
Skating on ice has been a familiar territory for the Kewaskum, Wisconsin native, who began practising the sport when he was five.
He began skating on his family’s backyard pond after watching Apolo Anton Ohno and Shani Davis speed to medals at the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.
Nearly 15 years later, the speed skating phenom’s sensor is even more alert.
But what is it about blades?
“I have actually tested a lot of blades because they're all the same brand, but some of them feel a bit different,” Stolz said with a look of satisfaction, on the blades skaters wear to push against the ice, which then helps provide forward fast movement and gain every tenth or even a hundredth of a second advantage.
“I’ve tested new like radius numbers on them, and I'm finding out what works good. I've made some improvements on that. So hopefully that should convert to some easy, free speed. You don't even have to train for it, you are just playing with the equipment.”
Stolz on 'skating faster times' already this season
The Beijing 2022 Olympian had the same ‘good blade’ feeling when he sped to a men's 1000m world record of 1:05.37 last January, at the World Cup held at the Olympic Oval in Salt Lake.
“It was either going to be that or around the world record. I couldn't believe the time when I looked up,” he recalled of the epic moment that beat Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov's 1:05.69 mark from 2020 at the same venue.
“The conditions were not the greatest that day. The splits and the time span of laps was just crazy. I didn’t think I’d see 1:05.3… I went three times faster than that…”
This year, the American chose to shape up differently, keeping off the bike, which he has preferred since winning his first U.S. senior national title in the 500 meters at the age of 16 in 2021.
“Weight training, we did a lot more this year in the summer than last year as we were training for allarounds. It’s kind of hard to get good training when you are doing a lot on the bike…it’s hard to mix those two," he tells Olympics.com.
“This season, I am kind of focusing more on shorter distance as I don't have to skate 5 or 10k... I'm feeling good. I'm skating faster times right now than I was at the beginning of last season, and it's going to improve a lot once I start doing more races and getting in better shape.”
He sealed his World Cup slot in dominant fashion at the U.S. Speed Skating Championships, leading from the front.
Stolz won twice in the men’s 500m, alongside victories in the 1000m, 1500m, and mass start.
Stolz on more World Cup glory as he targets Milano Cortina 2026
The result from Wisconsin could be the beginning of a trophy-filled season. He continued his winning streak with gold in the 500m and 1500m at the ISU Four Continents Championships in Hachinohe.
“Japan, it's going to be interesting. Obviously, we're going to be a little jet-lagged when we race there,” said Stolz of the World Cup in Nagano that will be followed by the second stop in Beijing from 29 November to 1 December.
“It'll be a good test. They have the ice different over there, so it's good to train and get used to start competing again. It's going to be a bit tougher than racing here and then leading into the Milwaukee World Cup, where I hope to race really fast as they get really fast ice.”
The seven-time world champion, who was invincible in almost every event he started last season, knows that it will take a lot to continue this trend.
“1500s looking all right. 1000m, I guess my biggest threat is Ning [Zhongyan] from China. I have not seen any times from there, so it'll be interesting to see what he does when we get to Japan. 500m there's going to be a little bit more competition this year with Jenning de Boo from the Netherlands.
“We’ll see how close they can get… I think if I really have to, I can sharpen myself enough to be able to stay ahead of them.”
There’s also another thing on his radar…
“The overall World Cup points, that’s something I haven't won yet…I would like to do it in three distances if it’s possible…if I can do that, it would be a great achievement, and it would be something good leading into the Olympic year.”