Olympics-Speed skating-American Stolz lives up to the hype to take 1,000m gold

By Pearl Josephine Nazare

MILAN, Feb 11 (Reuters) – Jordan Stolz lived up to expectations as he charged to the men’s 1,000 metres gold on Wednesday, delivering the United States’ first speed skating title of the Milano Cortina Olympics, as Joep Wennemars’ re-skate injected late drama into the event.

The 21-year-old Stolz blazed to an Olympic-record time of one minute 6.28 seconds, finishing 0.50 seconds clear of Dutchman Jenning de Boo, with China’s Ning Zhongyan taking bronze.

Skating in the inner lane in the second-last of 15 pairs and matched directly against De Boo, Stolz trailed early.

But he settled quickly into his rhythm and built up blistering pace, shattering Dutchman Gerard van Velde’s Olympic record from 2002 – set two years before Stolz was born.

“When he (De Boo) was ahead of me at 600m, I thought he was going to win. And then I thought, ‘I can’t let that happen’,” Stolz said.

“I attacked that corner as hard as I could, and on the back stretch I could feel myself gaining. I know the last lap is one of my strong points, so I’d be able to get him in the final corner. I was just super happy.”

De Boo, 22, was pleased with his race.

“This was the maximum right now. Jordan was the better man today,” De Boo said. “This medal means so much. This is my Olympic debut, and to end my first Games race with a medal is incredible. It’s such a happy feeling.”

RE-SKATE DRAMA

Wennemars – the 2025 world champion in the 1,000m and son of former sprint world champion Erben Wennemars – tangled with China’s Lian Ziwen during a lane change.

The incident, which left the 23-year-old Dutchman furious, resulted in Lian being disqualified and Wennemars was granted a re-skate.

Backed by a roaring orange-clad crowd and skating alone, his re‑skate extended the session by nearly 15 minutes, forcing Stolz, De Boo and the other podium hopefuls to wait for their medals to be confirmed.

Exhausted from his earlier effort, Wennemars managed only the fifth-fastest time.

HOTTEST PROPERTY

Stolz arrived at Milano-Cortina as one of speed skating’s hottest properties.

Since making his Olympic debut as a 17-year-old in Beijing – where he finished 13th in the 500m and 14th in the 1,000m – he has evolved into a dominant force in sprint distances and set the 1,000m world record.

Stolz, who took up speed skating after watching Apolo Ohno, his country’s most decorated winter Olympian, at the 2010 Vancouver Games, endured a turbulent build-up to these Olympics with bouts of illness and a serious bike crash during training in June.

He rose to the occasion in style, however, with American rapper Snoop Dogg rocking in the stands as the crowd roared him on.

The victory brought the U.S. a fourth gold medal of the Games, adding to Breezy Johnson’s women’s downhill win, the team event title in figure skating, and Elizabeth Lemley’s triumph in women’s moguls.

Stolz heads into the 500m and 1,500m as the overwhelming favourite and is also competing in the mass start.

(Reporting by Pearl Josephine Nazare in Milan; Editing by Toby Davis, Ken Ferris and Ed Osmond)