Stolz eked out a win over Jenning de Boo for the second time in a week
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NEED TO KNOW
- Jordan Stolz won his second gold medal and smashed his second Olympic record at the 2026 Winter Olympics
- He won the men’s 500m race on Feb. 14 in Milan, Italy
- Stolz is chasing four medals this Olympics, and is already halfway there
Jordan Stolz has always had his eye on the prize — and in his second final of the 2026 Winter Olympics, that laser-sharp focus paid off, with the young speedskater taking home a second gold medal and breaking another Olympic record in the men’s 500m on Feb. 14 in Milan.
Stolz, 21, bested Dutch speedskater Jenning de Boo in a nail-biter of a race from which he only emerged victorious by .11 seconds. The moment came just three days after he beat de Boo and set an Olympic record with his gold medal finish in the men’s 1000m.
The latest win marks the first time in 20 years that an American won gold in the men’s 500m, and was a huge step up from Stolz’s last go in 2022; in Beijing, he came in 13th in the 500m.
All eyes were on de Boo and Stolz, especially because of the way their first showdown shook out. In the 1000m, the Dutchman was ahead of the American for the first 600m. Stolz eventually clocked in at 33.77 seconds.
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Heading into the race, de Boo said at a press conference that he was looking forward to facing off against Stolz once more.
“I hope I get to race against him again and we’ll see. It’s going to be very tight and I hope to make it a great battle,” he said.
In a press conference after his first win, Stolz referenced the legendary speedskater Eric Heiden, who won an unprecedented five medals at the Lake Placid Games in 1980. Could something similar be in the cards for Stolz this Olympics?
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“That would be super huge,” he told reporters. “I think it would be second next to Eric Heiden and that’d be something that’s crazy, super historical. I don’t know if it’s gonna happen, it’s hard enough just to get one gold medal. But one is huge and for me, just being able to win one, and doing it in the 1000m. You wait four years to be able to do it. It means a lot, so I’m happy so far.”
The star athlete added that he hoped he could help make speedskating “a bigger sport” in the U.S., something he told PEOPLE about in January.
“I hope I can bring more publicity [to the sport], because I would love to inspire kids in the same way that I was inspired by Apolo [Anton Ohno],” he said.
To learn more about all the Olympic and Paralympic hopefuls, come to people.com to check out ongoing coverage before, during and after the games. Watch the Milan Cortina Olympics and Paralympics, beginning Feb. 6, on NBC and Peacock.
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