Jordan Stolz becomes first man to win three individual golds at a speed skating worlds

American Jordan Stolz became the first male speed skater to earn three individual gold medals at a world single distances championships.

Stolz, an 18-year-old who honed his skating on the pond behind his family’s Wisconsin house, won the 1500m on the last day of the four-day championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands.

He clocked 1 minute, 43.59 seconds to beat two-time Olympic champion Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands by 23 hundredths.

On Friday, Stolz won the 500m to become the youngest gold medalist since the world single distances championships started in 1996.

On Saturday, he won the 1000m. In both the 500m and 1000m, he skated the second-fastest time in history at a sea level venue. Most of the fastest times in history are set at high elevation in Salt Lake City or Calgary.

German women Anni Friesinger (2003) and Gunda Niemann-Stirnemann (1997) also won three events at a single worlds.

Skaters have also won three or more distances at the world allround championships, which crown one champion combining results from sprint and distance races and date officially to 1893.

Earlier this season, Stolz became the youngest man to win a World Cup race, then won three more and last month swept the 500m, 1000m and 1500m at the world junior championships.

The two other skaters to win world junior and senior titles in the same year are also from Wisconsin: siblings Eric Heiden and Beth Heiden.

Last year, Stolz made his Olympic debut with 13th- and 14th-place finishes.

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Mikaela Shiffrin finished in seventh position at a World Cup super-G affected by changing weather conditions Sunday as the American skier missed out on a record-tying 86th career victory.

Shiffrin was among the early starters