Jordan Stolz made it official: He’s going to the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
The American phenom locked a spot on the U.S. speed skating team with his first-place finish in the 1,000 meters on Friday, Nov. 21 at the World Cup event in Calgary, Alberta. His time of 1:06.0 was 0.63 off his own world record.
Because Stolz was a medalist at the world championships in March, winning silvers in the 500 and 1,500 meters and a bronze in the 1,000, he was eligible to secure his place on the team ahead of the Olympic trials by finishing in the top five in the same distance at two of the first four World Cups.
Stolz won the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters at the first World Cup speed skating event in Salt Lake City last weekend. That meant his next top five in any of those distances would guarantee him a trip to the Olympics.
Stolz does still need to qualify to race the 500 and 1,500 meters. He’ll race both distances Saturday, Nov. 22 and will have another 500 meters Sunday, Nov. 23.
‘It’s not something I think that hard about,’ Stolz said after winning the 1,000 meters in Salt Lake. ‘I just try and focus on (how I’m) feeling physically. Each race, trying to make it feel a little bit better, get a little more comfortable.’
It was pretty much a given that Stolz would make the Olympic team. He swept the sprint distances at the world championships in 2023 and 2024, and was the overall champion in each of the three races last season.
But there is something to be said for having qualification out of the way already rather than having to wait until the Olympic trials, which are Jan. 2-5 in Milwaukee, and hope nothing goes wrong.
Like what happened four years ago, when Erin Jackson came into trials as the world’s best in the 500 meters, only to slip during her race and finish third.
Jackson made the team when Brittany Bowe, who’d won the race, declined her spot for Jackson. Jackson would go on to win gold in the 500 meters at the Beijing Olympics.
U.S. Speed Skating changed its Olympic qualifying procedures as a result. In addition to world medalists being able to secure their spots with two top-five finishes, a skater who is on the podium in the same distance at two World Cups qualifies for the team.
‘If you’re able to hit those benchmarks, then you deserve to have a spot on the team,’ Bowe said in Salt Lake. ‘I think it’s a great addition to have some sense of security going into the Olympic trials if you’re podiuming consistently or you’re on the world championships podium last year. So I do love the addition.’