Jordan Stolz entered the 2026 Olympics virtually unknown in the United States.
Even in his home state of Wisconsin, the 21-year-old speed skater was a near-nobody.
That’s partly because speed skating isn’t popular in the U.S. Not many will seek it out until it pops up every four years in the Winter Olympics. But in speed skating-crazed countries like the Netherlands, Norway and Germany, he’s a sensation.
That was first apparent by the hat. In 2023, when he won the World AllAround title in the Netherlands, Stolz was given a colorful, flower-covered cap by a Dutch fan to wear following his victory. The hat is believed to only be presented to champions, designed to be reused for every subsequent winner.
A little over two years later, the hat found its way back to Stolz, in the biggest moment of his career. Stolz captured his first-career Olympic gold medal Wednesday in the 1,000-meter race, breaking a 24-year Olympic record with a time of 1:06.28.
Stolz sported the famous cap again during Wednesday’s victory lap. But unlike the last time he wore it, he’s not a question mark anymore. He’s becoming an American superstar. Stolz has three more chances to win gold again in Milan — the 500-meter, 1,500-meter and mass start races — where he can cement himself as one of the best speed skaters in the world.
“It’s hard to say, ‘Oh, I could win four gold medals,’ when you haven’t won one yet,” Stolz said following Wednesday’s triumph. “Now that I’ve won one, I know what to expect and can feel how the crowd is, with the energy and the ice.”
Ironically, Stolz was close to losing Wednesday. With a lap left, he trailed the Netherlands’ Jenning de Boo but surged past him in the final 400 meters to claim gold. Even then, he had to wait an extra 15 minutes before being named the winner after Joep Wennemars was granted a reskate.
Stolz said post-race that he had hoped to be even with de Boo with 600 meters to go. Instead, he “threw his arms down and attacked as hard as he could,” putting de Boo in the dust.
“I had high hopes, but his last lap was just incredible. I heard him coming at 800 meters, and then I just knew it was too late,” de Boo said.
Now, Stolz looks to join Norwegian biathlete Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Soviet speed skater Lidiya Skoblikova and American speed skater Eric Heiden as the only athletes to ever win four-plus golds at a single Winter Olympics.
Those are high aspirations for someone who started speed skating on a homemade track in his backyard.
He was first inspired to try speed skating when a 5-year-old Stolz and his family traveled to Vancouver in 2010 to watch the Winter Olympics. There, he watched athletes like Apolo Anton Ohno and Shani Davis zip by, becoming entranced by their speed.
His parents, Dirk and Jane Stolz, did everything possible to quench his thirst to compete.
That started with Dirk plowing snow off the pond behind their house in Kewskum, Wisconsin, to create a makeshift speed skating track, as shown in Stolz’s Instagram post in 2022. Both Dirk and Jane also learned how to skate to teach Stolz and his sister, Hannah.
2026 WINTER OLYMPICS
Jane was initially wary, though. She made Stolz and Hannah wear life jackets until Dirk drilled a hole in the ice to show her it was safe.
“I was always afraid they could drown,” Jane told NBC News. “Dirk kept saying the ice was thick enough, but I was not willing to risk it.”
As Stolz grew older, he began competing in more structured events after joining local Badger Speed Skating Club.
Jane and Dirk made numerous sacrifices to further his career. They alternated work schedules — Jane during the day, Dirk at nights — so someone was always available to take him to practices.
But when his schedule became more hectic, they realized something needed to change. Stolz had been attending public school, but it was too much of a hassle to have him miss class on Thursdays and Fridays to travel to a race.
So, his parents decided to homeschool him at age 10.
Later, to fund Stolz’s increasingly expensive gear, they started a taxidermy business out of their basement on top of their other jobs, per People.
It’s safe to say their dedication has paid off.
In 2021, Stolz claimed his first U.S. senior national title in the 500 meters at 16 years old. A year later, at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup, he placed last of 41 competitors in the 500 meter Division B race.
Stolz wasn’t deterred. Later that year, he won both the 500- and 1,000-meter races at the Olympic trials and was subsequently named to the U.S. squad for the 2022 Beijing Olympics. In Beijing, he placed 13th in the 500 and 14th in the 1,000, becoming the third-youngest American man to compete in long track speed skating.
That was Stolz’s formal introduction to the higher levels of the speed skating world. The next three years, which included seven championships, made him a household name — in Europe at least.
At the 2023 World Championships, he won titles in the 500-, 1,000-, and 1,500-meter events. A year later, rinse and repeat.
His international success has garnered respect from former Olympians, even Heiden, who sat next to Snoop Dogg during Wednesday’s race, and Davis, his initial inspiration to start the sport.
“Jordan checks all those boxes,” Davis told USA Today. “There’s no Achilles heel with him. And you’re seeing that more and more.”
Stolz is one of the biggest up-and-coming superstars from this year’s Olympics. It’s not a surprise to European fans, who Stolz’s parents said instantly recognized him when they went to a restaurant in the Netherlands a few months ago.
There, he was interrupted again and again by admirers wanting to say hello or take pictures.
After his star-studded performance Wednesday, and the chance for another three Olympic medals, maybe he’ll be greeted by even more paparazzi when he returns home.
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