American Jordan Stolz becomes youngest world champion in speed skating history

Jordan Stolz, an 18-year-old speed skater from Wisconsin, became the youngest gold medalist in world single distances championships history on Friday.

Stolz, a phenom who honed his skating on the pond behind the family house, won the 500m in 34.10 seconds at the Thialf, the sport’s hallowed venue in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

He won by a whopping 36 hundredths of a second over Canadian Laurent Dubreuil, the previous world champion. It’s the largest margin in men’s 500m history at worlds if you divide margins in half from championships when the 500m was two races.

“Been feeling really snappy all week,” Stolz told Dutch broadcaster NOS, while adding that the fast time was “really surprising.” “At the finish line I crossed going 61 kilometers [38 miles] per hour.”

Gao Tingyu of China, last year’s Olympic champion, took this season off but is expected to return ahead of the 2026 Winter Games, according to Xinhua News Agency in September.

Stolz’s time was three hundredths shy of the fastest time in history at or around sea level (also set at the Thialf) and two hundredths off his American record, which was set at altitude in Calgary in December. Most records in speed skating are set in thin air at higher elevations — Calgary or Salt Lake City.

Stolz is a medal contender in the 1000m on Saturday and the 1500m on Sunday, having won two World Cup races at each distance this season. Peacock airs live coverage of worlds.

The world single distances championships have been held since 1996.

Stolz broke the record of youngest gold medalist that was held by Dutchwoman Femke Kok, who took team sprint gold in 2020 at age 19, according to Speedskatingstats.com. Before Stolz, the youngest world champion in an individual event was Czech Marti