When he reached the 600 – meter mark of the 1000 – meter Olympic speedskating competition on Wednesday night in Milan, he felt that he was losing time to a rival, Jenning de Boo from the Netherlands, who was skating in the other lane at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium oval. The crowd, with a large number of Dutch fans – perhaps around 90% of the spectators were wearing [relevant Dutch items] – was now in a frenzy. At 21 years old, Stolz, a seven – time world champion, holds the world record in the 1000 – meter event. Could he really lose this race and ruin his attempt to win all four of his events and bring his sport back into the American public’s awareness, just as [someone] did all those years ago in [a place]?

Stolz has a fierce competitive instinct on the ice. But he admitted after the race that even he was nervous at that moment. “Oh, definitely,” said Stolz. “I put my two arms down. Because I really didn’t want to lose.”

No one in the world can finish a race as well as Stolz. He pushed hard in the last lap, and de Boo knew he was in trouble. “I had high hopes, but his last lap is just amazing,” said 22 – year – old de Boo. “You can hear his skates approaching. It’s quite eerie.”

Stolz crossed the finish line in 1 minute and 6.28 seconds, breaking an Olympic record that had stood for 24 years. De Boo came in second, half a second behind Stolz. No one else was within a second of Stolz.

However, Stolz couldn’t fully celebrate just yet. Another pair of skaters still had to complete their two – and – a – half laps around the long – track oval. Then, Joep Wennemars from the Netherlands, the 2025 world champion in the 1000 – meter event (Stolz was affected by pneumonia at that competition), was given a chance to skate again because Chinese skater Lian Ziwen clipped his blade. He had 15 minutes to prepare. “I didn’t think he would beat my time,” said Stolz, and he was right. Wennemars was too tired during the re – skate to be a threat for a medal, let alone the gold. Almost immediately after Wennemars crossed the line in the re – skate, finishing fifth, Stolz put the American flag over his shoulder and started his victory lap. “I was ready,” he said.

The incident in his original race made Wennemars angry. According to a translation by Dutch journalists, Wennemars told them that he felt a medal had been stolen from him. His facial expression said it all. He looked ready to fight someone. Wennemars did say that Ziwen apologized. But he’s not going to invite Ziwen out for dinner.

Stolz won the Olympic 1000 – meter race with the largest margin of victory since 1984. In the seats of the Milan Speed Skating Stadium, Stolz’s father, Dirk, who worked as a sheriff in Washington County, Wisc., and recently retired from law enforcement after 29 years, recalled the days when he shoveled snow off their frozen backyard pond so that Stolz and his sister, Hannah, could skate on it. They were inspired by watching Apolo Ohno at the Vancouver Olympics. “That’s actually what started all this,” says Dirk. “And suddenly, 16 years later, he’s here and has won a gold medal.”

Dirk says that the idea of becoming a sheriff has occurred to Jordan. As recently as a couple of years ago, he would take his son on patrol rides. “I always told him that in sports, you’d better have some kind of backup plan,” says Dirk. “Because you never know.”

Plan A is working well for Stolz, especially after this Olympic gold. Mark the 500 – meter race on February 14 on your calendars: de Boo beat Stolz in the 500 – meter event at last year’s world championships, and his lead through 600 meters in Milan seems to give him an advantage.

Stolz also has the 1500 – meter and mass – start events on his schedule: four gold medals are still within his reach. Although Heiden won five, Stolz has positioned himself as his successor. Heiden sat in the front row, next to [someone] on Wednesday. “It’s really cool that I was able to win in front of both of them,” said Stolz. “I’m sure they were enjoying it. I definitely didn’t disappoint them.”