MILAN — Jordan Stolz had us spoiled.
By cruising to Olympic gold in the 500 meters and 1,000 meters, setting Olympic records in the process, he made this quest for history at the 2026 Winter Olympics look easy. Of course he could win the 1,500 meters and then the mass start, giving him four golds at a single Games, something no one but Eric Heiden has done.
But this was never going to be easy. It’s not supposed to be.
‘I think two gold medals in itself is already a huge accomplishment, and silver’s not bad,’ Stolz said after finishing second to China’s Ning Zhongyan, who blazed to gold in an Olympic record 1:41.98. ‘To be able to have three medals is super cool.
‘The pressure, with expecting four gold medals, that’s not something I was thinking about too much. I was just focusing on my races and what I could do and what I could control. Today Ning had the better race. He was super good. I couldn’t beat him.’
Stolz had been unbeatable at the 1,500 meters this season, winning all five World Cup races. But that doesn’t get you a head start at the Olympics. You don’t get a couple of seconds shaved off your time because you won the World Cup season title.
Stolz has been the guy everyone wants to beat for three years now. While he was focusing on his own races, everyone else was focusing on him. The thought of him was what drove his competitors do that extra training session, to spend that extra hour in the gym.
It is one thing to win an Olympic gold medal. It’s even better when you can do it by taking down the best of the best.
‘I was never expecting that I could win the gold medal today. During the whole season, I never beat Jordan,’ Ning said, incredulous. ‘I still can’t believe I won the race today. After he finished his race, I couldn’t believe that I beat him. I was finally on top of the mountain.’
And make no mistake, Stolz did not lose this race. Ning won it.
Skating two pairs before Stolz and matched with Kjeld Nuis, the defending Olympic champion and world record holder, Ning made his way around the rink as if he was powered by rocket fuel. He did his first lap in 22.99, a blistering pace.
When he finished, he’d eclipsed an Olympic record that was all of about five minutes old, set by Joep Wennemars of the Netherlands.
Stolz thought he could beat Ning, but only if he had a perfect race. When he saw he’d done a 25.4 in his first lap, however, he knew beating Ning was going to be ‘pretty difficult.’ Stolz was able to make up some ground, shaving almost 0.6 seconds off the gap in the last lap.
But it wasn’t enough.
‘I started to die off a little bit. I just couldn’t hold it to the finish to beat his time,’ Stolz said. ‘Maybe I could do better than that time on my best day. I think Ning had the race of his life, and he definitely earned it today.’
That’s how the Olympics goes. The best people don’t always win. Often enough, as Stolz did in the 500 meters and the 1,000 meters. But time and again at these Games alone we’ve seen the favorite hasn’t been the one standing atop the podium, for a variety of reasons.
For Stolz to maintain his peak for four races over a 10-day span, to hold off the pack at four different distances, well, there’s a reason no one’s come close to doing what Heiden did at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, when he won five golds.
‘It probably will never happen again,’ Stolz said. ‘I mean, five gold medals is insane.’
And it’s not because of the pressure.
Because he’s been so dominant and because of the possibility of winning four golds, Stolz is one of the faces of these Games. He’s in commercials and now has a laundry list of sponsors. But if there’s anyone built to be impervious to that kind of pressure, it’s Stolz.
Though he is only 21, he is about as even-keeled as they come. The next time he’s ruffled will be the first.
Was he disappointed not to win? Of course. He’s human, and he had to choke back some emotions as he stood on the medals podium.
But he is also sensible enough to know why he didn’t win. And to be happy for Ning that he did.
‘He tries really hard. He’s always trying to be on the podium and now he was able to win, so that’s super cool for him,’ Stolz said.
To think Stolz was going to waltz off with four gold medals wasn’t just naive, it did a disservice to his competitors.
Ning, Stolz, Nuis and Wennemars — they all skated faster than the time Nuis did four years ago in setting what had been the Olympic record when the night began. This wasn’t just a race, it was a heavyweight fight. Nine times out of 10, Stolz would win it.
But that’s what makes the Olympics so compelling. Nothing is going to come easy, even for Jordan Stolz.
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