MILAN — The 500-meter event was the particular race that caused Jordan Stolz’s 75-year-old mentor the most anxiety heading into these Olympic Games.
Bob Corby was aware that this specific distance posed a potential vulnerability for the formidable American prodigy when pitted against elite contenders.
And yet, Stolz preserved his pursuit of four Olympic gold medals by the narrowest of margins on Saturday night, activating an essential burst of speed precisely when required. His final time of 33.77 shattered the Olympic record and was just sufficient to outpace Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands by a mere eleven-hundredths of a second for second place. Laurent Dubreuil from Canada secured the bronze, trailing Stolz by almost half a second.
Engaging in direct competition with de Boo once more brought forth Stolz’s peak performance, mirroring their 1,000-meter race four days prior. De Boo seemed positioned to pass Stolz in the race’s concluding turn, but the 21-year-old American mustered the power to fend off his rival, extending his skate across the finish line to ensure his victory.
With his hands clasped to his head in dismay as he navigated the bend after crossing the finish, de Boo lost control and collided with the barrier along the ice’s outer perimeter. Stolz glanced back to ascertain de Boo’s well-being, then exchanged a high-five with Corby rink-side, pumped his fist, and acknowledged the spectators.
Two additional pairs of skaters were still scheduled to compete, potentially surpassing Stolz’s time, but none of them, not even Damian Zurek of Poland, came notably close. Stolz observed calmly alongside Corby, then draped an American flag over his shoulders and celebrated his second gold medal within four days.
Stolz has now achieved half of his goal to secure the most speedskating gold medals at a single Olympics since fellow Wisconsin native Eric Heiden famously claimed five at the 1980 Lake Placid Games. Still awaiting Stolz are the 1,500-meter race on Thursday and the unpredictable, frenetic mass start event two days thereafter.
For Stolz, conquering the formidable assembly of incredibly swift sprinters in the 500-meter event represented potentially his greatest challenge.
While Stolz has dominated the 1,000 and 1,500 meters since his meteoric rise on the global stage over three years ago, he is more susceptible in shorter distances that prioritize pure velocity over sustained endurance. Stolz has triumphed in five out of nine 500-meter races contested at World Cup events this season. Skaters such as de Boo, Żurek, and Kim Jun-Ho of South Korea have demonstrated the capacity to defeat him.
The events of Tuesday’s 1,000-meter race underscored the difficulty Stolz encountered. His initial strategy for that competition was to maintain pace with de Boo by the 600-meter mark, but when the signal sounded, he was behind by four-tenths of a second. Even though Stolz executed an incredibly fast final lap to surge past de Boo and clinch his first career Olympic gold, his mid-race deficit generated questions about how he would perform in the 500.
“That causes me some apprehension,” Corby confided earlier this week during an interview with Yahoo Sports. He added, “While that particular event indicated his likelihood for a successful 1,500-meter performance, it doesn’t automatically imply he’ll excel in the 500. And Jenning was incredibly quick, so I believe he’ll achieve a rapid time this Saturday.”
Fortunately for Corby, Stolz indeed proved swifter. The 21-year-old American now possesses a second gold medal to drape around his neck, with the prospect of additional victories still on the horizon.
