By HOWARD FENDRICH AP National Writer
MILAN (AP) — U.S. speedskater Jordan Stolz won the men’s 1,000 meters at the Milan Cortina Games on Wednesday in an Olympic-record time for the first of what he hopes will be a four-gold Winter Games.
Skating in the next-to-last pairing at Milano Speed Skating Stadium, a temporary facility constructed for these Olympics that has been producing fast times so far, Stolz finished in 1 minute, 6.28 seconds.
The 21-year-old from Wisconsin didn’t threaten his world record of 1:05.37 but did better the Olympic standard of 1:07.18 that had stood since 2002 — before Stolz was born. All four long track speedskating races in Milan have been won in the fastest times ever turned in at an Olympics.
Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands was a half-second slower than Stolz and took the silver medal. No one else came within a full second of Stolz’s time. Zhongyan Ning of China got the bronze.
Stolz’s medal was his first at this level: As a 17-year-old at the 2022 Beijing Games, Stolz came in 14th in the 1,000 and 13th in the 500.
It also was the first medal of any sort in the men’s 1,000 for the United States since the 2010 Vancouver Games. That’s when Shani Davis — a mentor to Stolz — won his second consecutive gold in that event, and Chad Hedrick took the bronze. Dutch men had won the 1,000 at each of the past three Winter Games.
With Eric Heiden, the only speedskater to win five golds at one Olympics, sitting next to rapper Snoop Dogg in the stands, Stolz pulled ahead of de Boo by the time one full lap was done. Then de Boo moved in front. But Stolz moved into the lead at the final corner and crossed first with his hands on his knees.
He soon was celebrating with an understated pump of his right hand.
A full-on victory lap toting an American flag had to be put on hold for a bit, though: First, the day’s last heat needed to be held. And then there was a 10-minute delay before Joep Wennermars of the Netherlands was given the chance at a re-skate because he had been bumped during his original heat.
But Wennermars didn’t come close to beating Stolz, who entered the day as a big favorite — and came through in the clutch.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
