Jordan Stolz isn’t just the world’s best speed skater; he’s on the verge of a four-gold medal performance at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics, a feat that would place him alongside the greatest Winter Olympians in history.
MILWAUKEE — In a quiet moment, a young Jordan Stolz stared intently at an iPad, rewinding a clip over and over. He wasn’t watching cartoons or playing games. He was studying Russian speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov, who had just set the world record in the 500 meters. When his father, Dirk, entered the room, his son delivered a simple, powerful declaration: “I’m trying to figure out how to get the world record.” Stolz was not yet 12.
A decade later, Stolz has not only achieved that goal—he has shattered it—and established an almost unbreakable hold on men’s speedskating. This dominance has set the stage for what could be a transformational performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, where the 21-year-old American is a heavy favorite to win multiple gold medals and etch his name into Olympic lore.
The scale of Stolz’s current dominance is staggering. He has won every 1,000 and 1,500-meter race this World Cup season, and five of the nine 500-meter races. This follows a 2024 season where he swept the sprint distances at the World Speed Skating Championships for a second consecutive year and won the season title at all three distances. He has already broken Kulizhnikov’s 1,000-meter world record, adding it to his legacy.
This level of control over the sport is what fuels the conversation about his Olympic potential. If he stays healthy, Stolz could leave Milano Cortina with four gold medals, a feat achieved by only a handful of athletes in Winter Olympic history. Norwegian biathlon legend Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Soviet speed skater Lidiya Skoblikova are the only athletes to win four golds at a single Winter Games. Eric Heiden, the American icon, won five golds in 1980.
“Sometimes you just sit back and realize what level you’re actually on and it’s kind of amazing,” Stolz told USA TODAY Sports. “I don’t want to say too much about it, because you want to try and keep realistic. So I just focus on what’s ahead. But if you look at all the stuff that has been done, it’s kind of large.”
A Journey Forged in a Wisconsin Backyard
Stolz’s path to the top began in Kewaskum, Wisconsin, a northwest exurb of Milwaukee. Captivated by watching Apolo Anton Ohno at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics, he and his older sister Hannah begged their parents to try speedskating. The family’s backyard pond, cleared by his father Dirk into a 30-yard straightaway, became their first rink.
That makeshift track quickly evolved into a full oval, complete with lights so the kids could skate after dark. “They were down there all the time,” Dirk Stolz recalled. When it was clear this passion was more than a passing phase, the Stolzes sought out a club, eventually finding their way to the Pettit National Ice Center in West Allis, a legendary facility that has produced champions like Eric Heiden, Bonnie Blair, and Shani Davis.
It was at the Pettit that Stolz caught the eye of Bob Fenn, Davis’s coach. “Bobby comes up to me and Jane and was like, ‘I want to coach your kids. Your kids have such a work ethic. They’re such go-getters,’” Dirk Stolz said. The family made a full commitment, with the children beginning homeschooling to accommodate training schedules and parents alternating shifts to ensure someone could always make the 45-minute drive to the ice center.
The Career-Altering Partnership with Coach Bob Corby
After Fenn’s unexpected death in 2017, Davis coached Stolz briefly before leaving to train China’s national team. At just 14, Stolz reached out to Bob Corby, a legendary coach who had previously trained champions like Dan Jansen and Bonnie Blair and had treated Stolz for a pulled hip flexor years earlier.
“He said, ‘I don’t have a coach. Would you please coach me?’” Corby recalled. The partnership would prove transformative. While Stolz always possessed great technique and an obsessive drive to improve, his training had been minimal. Corby introduced a rigorous, heavy weightlifting program to build explosive lower-body strength—the key to generating power on the ice.
“When I was coaching in the early ‘80s, we could skate technically better than everyone in the world, but we couldn’t beat them,” Corby said. “It occurred to me, we weren’t strong enough.” The exact details of Stolz’s offseason regimen remain a trade secret, but the results are undeniable. “I’ve never seen anybody generate speed like he does,” Corby stated. “He’s got extremely strong legs. Then, when you add really, really good technique that puts power into the ice, it’s a really good combination.”
The COVID-19 pandemic, while disruptive, inadvertently gave Stolz more time to get stronger under Corby’s guidance. “That’s when he really took off,” Corby said. The payoff was immediate. At the U.S. championships in January 2021, the 16-year-old Stolz won the 500 meters. He made his first Olympic team the following year, gaining invaluable experience at the Beijing Games despite a challenging experience navigating the strict COVID protocols on his own.
Unprecedented Dominance Since Beijing
Nine months after the 2022 Olympics, Stolz announced his arrival as a global force, becoming the youngest man to win an individual World Cup race in both the 1,000 and 1,500 meters. A month later, he made the podium in all three sprint distances at a single World Cup for the first time.
His ascent continued at a breathtaking pace. He won the 500, 1,000, and 1,500 meters at the 2023 junior world championships, then duplicated that feat a month later at the senior world championships, becoming the youngest world champion and the first man to win three individual golds at a single championships. He repeated the three-gold sweep in 2024 and capped the season by winning the prestigious World Allround Speed Skating Championships. At 19, he was the youngest skater to win the allround title since Eric Heiden, who won his first at 17.
“I remember watching Heiden,” Dirk Stolz said, a note of awe in his voice. “This kid is getting compared to one of the greatest Olympic athletes? How did this happen?”
This level of success, and the comparisons to legends, could overwhelm any athlete. But Stolz is grounded by his work ethic and a strong support system. He is extremely confident without being cocky, and he has a trusted advisor in Shani Davis, who acts as a mentor and a voice of reason. The two remain close, with Davis describing Stolz as a little brother. He never gives Stolz better than a six out of 10 after a race, knowing it will keep the younger skater hungry. He also counsels him on navigating the pressures of fame, having learned those lessons the hard way himself.
Why Milano Cortina Could Be a Defining Moment
The stage is set for Stolz to become a global superstar. He is already a featured figure in NBC’s Olympic promotions, appearing alongside Hollywood actor Glen Powell, and has landed commercials with major brands like Honda, Omega, and Ralph Lauren. A multi-gold medal performance in Milano Cortina would catapult him into the rarefied air occupied by icons like Michael Phelps and Simone Biles.
Stolz is not daunted by the spotlight. “I just try and keep realistic,” he said. “We know what we’re doing that’s working to make me faster. So I think if we continue to do that, it’ll continue to progress.”
He has already experienced the intense media scrutiny that comes with being a champion in the Netherlands, where speedskating is a national obsession. That experience, combined with the wisdom of his coach and mentor, has prepared him for the Olympic stage. “I’m just happy to be in the position I’m in, to give back from what I’ve experienced and what I worked for,” Davis said. “I can see him picking up where I left off and even pushing the bar further.”
At just 21, Stolz’s career is still in its early stages. Even if he were to win four gold medals in Milano Cortina, he can, and almost certainly will, get better. The drive that saw a 12-year-old boy studying world records in his bedroom has only intensified.
“You kind of get addicted to improving the times and trying to go faster,” Stolz said. “It’s something you have to learn or grow into, but I really like it.” For the rest of the world, the prospect of Jordan Stolz getting even faster is both astounding and terrifying. Olympic history is waiting to be made.
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