After 2 races, Stolz leads at World Allround meet
Kewaskum speed skater Jordan Stolz took the important first steps to the ISU World Allround title with a strong day of racing Saturday in Inzell, Germany.
He skated to first place, as expected, in the 500 meters sprint in 34.10 seconds to earn big points right off the bat.
But then he also crushed the 5,000 meters just 2 ½ half hours later, skating to a personal best time of 6 minutes 14.76 seconds to place seventh among the 24 best distance skaters in the world.
The World Allround champion will be calculated by a points system based on the finishes of four races in the Samalog scoring system; one sprint, one middle distance and two distance races.
After the first of two days, Stolz was in first place with 71.576 points with two races remaining.
His biggest competitor is 28-year-old Patrick Roest of the Netherlands, sitting in second at 72.715; Sverre Lunde Pedersen of Norway is third at 73.693.
On Sunday morning (Milwaukee time), Stolz will race the 1,500 and the 10,000 to complete the challenge. The first race could be very much in his favor. The latter will be a big challenge for the speedy sprinter.
“He is not stressed,” Dirk Stolz, Jordan’s father, said via text message following the racing. “He is having fun. He is in a good position now.”
In the 500, Stolz’s racing pair falsestarted, but that didn’t seem to throw off Stolz’s focus. He jumped out to a searing lead on the second start and left the field in the dust.
Stolz set a track record and a championship record for the World Allround.
Stolz is a celebrity in Inzell
It’s been a great time so far for Stolz in the pristine setting of an Olympic ice risk nestled in the fields and mountains of Germany. His father estimates 8,000 fans were on hand to watch the racing.
Stolz is a celebrity, with fans approaching him all race day Saturday. And it makes sense. In 2023 Stolz raced in the junior world championships at the same location, as it was his last chance to race as a junior because the pandemic coincided with his junior years and shut down racing worldwide for two seasons. So a year ago at age 18 he cleaned up with a rack of seven medals at juniors.
“I was pretty familiar with the track and everything around me. So I already have a good feeling,” said Stolz last week, before the competition began.
Numerous fans greeted him at the airport when he landed in Germany, and at the restaurant at the hotel where he has been staying, he spent 20 minutes taking pictures and signing autographs.
Allround chances may be few
Stolz opted out of the World Sprint
Championships on Thursday and Friday to go for the prestigious World Allround title this weekend. It’s a lofty goal. And a huge challenge for the young Stolz in a non-Olympic year.
“These were the only championships that we had, other than the Olympics,” Stolz’s coach, Bob Corby, explained before the racing. “Until 1996 when they introduced the World Single Distance championships. It was Allround and the Olympics.”
Two weeks ago Stolz won the World Single Distance championships in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 for the second straight year. This is a very different kind of racing, and it holds a lot of credibility within the racing community. But will that change?
“I think is because of their analyzing the television audience and stuff like that, the ISU – International Skating Union – has determined that the longer the races go, the poorer the television audience.,” said Corby. “So they’re kind of moving away from this type of competition. So that’s another reason to try and win one – because it might go away. We don’t know.”
Either way, it’s likely Stolz won’t attempt this race again for a while – maybe not until 2028 – so it’s a special weekend. It’s something he’s been serious about for 11 months, as he kept racing the distances in addition to the sprints during the World Cup season.
“He’s learning to enjoy the distances and when you watch it, it’s pretty phenomenal,” said Corby. “He’s got a chance – he’s good at it – it is just foreign to him that he hasn’t done it very much. But last year, we trained for 5,000 meters because that race is in the junior worlds. And then he did he did really well at junior worlds and so that’s why he’s willing to take on this 10,000.”
Racing resumes Sunday morning Milwaukee time (remember Daylight Saving Time) and will be televised on NBC’s subscription streaming service Peacock.
A strong 1,500 would really help Stolz. That race distance is already in his wheelhouse. He will be pushed by Roest.
The 10,000 is another animal altogether. Corby explained that Stolz won’t have the same need to be technically perfect as the sprints but still has to be locked in.
“It’s a little bit less meticulous because you’re doing 30- and 31-second laps, or maybe 29- (and) 30-second laps instead of 24-second laps,” said Corby. “Going 40 miles an hour on skates, then you really got to get it right. So it’s not quite as difficult, but it’s completely different.
“He’s up slightly higher. You have to keep the tempo up on the corners. It’s not just power; you just got to keep your legs moving. It’s a different technique, and he’s actually pretty good at it.”
If the 19-year-old Stolz can win the World Allround Speed Skating Championships, he’ll go down in history as the youngest male champion since Eric Heiden of Madison in 1978.