02/21/26 04:39:00
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02/21 04:38 CST Jordan Stolz gets another shot at a 3rd Olympic speedskating
gold medal on Saturday
Jordan Stolz gets another shot at a 3rd Olympic speedskating gold medal on
Saturday
By HOWARD FENDRICH
AP National Writer
MILAN (AP) --- Jordan Stolz still can become the first man in 32 years to leave
an Olympics with three gold medals in long track speedskating.
Heading into the women's and men's mass start events that wrap up the sport's
competition at the Milan Cortina Games on Saturday, Stolz already has won the
500 meters and 1,000 meters and added a silver in the 1,500.
After the latter result on Thursday, Stolz said: "I didn't have it today. Not
sure why."
There had been a lot of talk about whether the 21-year-old from Wisconsin might
end up with a quartet of golds: He was asked questions about that at the outset
of the news conferences immediately following his two victories.
But going home with a trio of wins would be significant.
The last male speedskater to get three golds in long track at a single Winter
Games was Johann Olav Koss at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics (the Norwegian won
the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000).
The only two athletes with more are Eric Heiden, who went 5-for-5 for the
United States at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, and Lidiya Skoblikova, who
claimed four titles in women's speedskating while representing the Soviet Union
in 1964.
The mass start is unlike any other individual event in long track.
Instead of essentially racing against the clock during two-person heats, all of
the entrants line up together and do 16 laps --- a total of 6,400 meters ---
simultaneously. That can lead to jostling and create what some skaters call
random outcomes.
"The mass start is just kind of a tossup," Stolz said. "It's more like a bonus.
It's so hard to say what's going to happen in that."
The semifinal rounds begin Saturday at 3 p.m. local time (9 a.m. ET), with the
finals later in the day.
The American men competing are Stolz and Ethan Cepuran, a silver medalist in
team pursuit in Italy; the squad's women are Mia Manganello and Greta Myers.
Valerie Maltais, the Canadian who has a gold in team pursuit and bronzes in the
1,500 and 3,000 at these Olympics, said she sees the mass start as really up
for grabs.
"It's anyone's race. It's completely different. It's not the strongest athlete
who will win; it's the smartest. The one who's going to be more patient. The
one who's going to have to be bold, maybe in attack. A lot of things will
happen," Maltais said. "It's hard to predict. You have less control of what's
happening around you. It's the race where I'm the most nervous when I show up
to the line."
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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