Kewaskum teen Jordan Stolz blows away a Pettit Center record, earns an Olympic speedskating berth and calls it 'good enough'
Brittany Bowe has been to the Olympics twice; at 33, she is one of the leaders of the U.S. national speedskating program.
Jordan Stolz is 17, not that far removed from learning to skate on a frozen reservoir in his Kewaskum backyard.
The short list of what those two have in common grew by a line Thursday night, when both broke Pettit National Ice Center records in winning their 1,000-meter races at the U.S. Olympic long-track trials.
“I felt my performance was pretty good; could have been a little better I think just with some turn setups, but it was good enough for sure,” the low-key Stolz said.
He had just knocked seven-tenths of a second off the mark set by two-time Olympic gold medalist Shani Davis in November 2005, and Stolz did feel queasy afterward. But that was from downing Kefir – a fermented milk drink similar to yogurt – beforehand, rather than nerves or excitement over the accomplishment.
“I think there’s always something to keep training for,” he said. “What I did today, I don’t usually mess it up like that, but it just happened, probably just because of the track pattern. It wasn’t too big of a thing, just little minor details.”
Stolz, having been inspired by 2010 Olympic champion Apolo Ohno, learned to skate behind the family home. Fast forward 11 years and he has enjoyed a breakout season thanks to both maturation and the addition of weight training and cycling to his regimen.
Stolz began the year by setting a national junior record in his gold-medal performance at the U.S. championships and has kept building. He was able to compete in two World Cup meets and broke his own junior world records in the 500 and 1,000 in the finale in Calgary, where he finished second in the 1,000.
“Jordan’s on an amazing path to the top, and yeah, he’s got a bright future ahead of him,” said Joey Mantia, the two-time Olympian who finished second.
“I remember him being in Salt Lake City a couple of years ago and being a scrawny little kid, and he wasn’t very fast and then all of a sudden he goes back home for a summer, hits that special time when a boy grows into a young man and comes back and he was jacked.
“He was quick then, but he’s just making extreme progress ever since. He’s got a really good feel for his skates, doesn’t think too much, which is great – his coach told me he barely has to tell him anything – so he’s a natural, and it’s really nice to have those come around now and then. It’s rare, but it’s nice that I get to see that at the end of my career.“
On Thursday night Stolz skated the 1,000 in 1 minute 7.62 seconds that blew away the leading time set a pair earlier by Mantia by 1.38 seconds. Mantia lobbied for the trials to be canceled out of concerns over COVID-19 ahead of the Games and had what he termed “a terrible performance,” so qualifying was more about checking a box early in the week more than accomplishing anything of significance.
Mantia, who finished an Olympic career-best fourth in the 1,000 in the 2018, will race again Friday in the 500.
Austin Kleba, a 21-year-old from Campton Hills, Illinois, finished third.
The top two finishers earned a spot on Team USA for the Olympics Feb. 4-20 in Beijing.
“I’m just going to try to do the best race I can at the Olympics and see where it ends up,” Stolz said when asked about the possibility of medaling in China. “I’d like to get in the top five, top six; I’d be happy with that.”
Bowe also set the track record in winning the women’s 1,000 to earn her third trip to the Games. She covered the distance in 1 minute 13.63 seconds while skating alongside Erin Jackson, who like Bowe is a former inline racer from Ocala, Florida.
“I wasn’t looking for any particular time in general,” said Bowe, who knocked more than one-tenth of a second off her previous mark. “It’s always fun to get a track record, and with the track record being mine, to say I went faster in this building than I ever have in my life is a pretty big confidence booster going into Beijing.”
Bowe vs. Jackson head-to-head for the first time in the 1,000 meters might have been the most anticipated pairing of the night.
“We were joking with each other before the race and I told her I’d have to give her a taste of her own medicine of what she’ll probably give me tomorrow in the 500,” Bowe said.
“It’s great to have two Ocala girls going to the start line at the same time, and with Erin being completely dominant in the 500 meters this year on the World Cup circuit it has been really, really fun to watch. It’ll be exciting to see what she has tomorrow and in Beijing."
Kimi Goetz, skating in the last of nine pairs, edged Jackson for second place four years after missing out on the Olympics after suffering a concussion at the short-track trials.
“I would say in that one I was racing against myself,” said the 27-year-old from Flemington, New Jersey. “Brittany Bowe is the best in the world and I want to be as close as I can to her. But I feel like at sea-level rinks I’m still learning to execute races.
“I just had different points in the race I wanted to attack and hoped that those segments added up to a fast enough race to get second. But I had feeling I wasn’t going to be first, but that’s OK.”
The trials continue through Sunday. The men’s and women’s 500-meter races are scheduled for Friday, with television coverage from 5-6:30 p.m. on USA Network cable.
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This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Speedskating phenom Jordan Stolz, 17, of Kewaskum, sets Pettit record
