Chart by Nett Racing from US Speedskating and the ISU.
Jordan Stolz has two new coaches and a new plan as he starts the road to the 2030 Winter Olympics. The long track star from Kewaskum, Wisconsin, left the Milano Cortina Games in February with 2 gold medals and a silver. He will sit out this week's season opener in Beijing and begin his World Cup season a week later in Japan.
Two new coaches
Over the summer Stolz, 22, split from Bob Corby, who coached him for eight seasons and through two Olympics. The two people now guiding him are ones he already knew well. Mark Yanagihara has looked after his blades for years and is a close friend. Shani Davis, who won the Olympic 1000 m twice, has been a mentor to Stolz for a long time and now coaches the distance skaters on the US national team.
Why he is sitting out Beijing
Stolz does not want to fly to China twice in one season. The World Championships are in Beijing in February, and he said the long trip wears him out. He also said he is a little heavier than he wants to be after a summer with a new training and eating routine, so he would not be at his best this week. His top rival will be missing too. Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands, second to Stolz in the Olympic 500 m and 1000 m, broke a collarbone when he crashed on his bike and will miss the early World Cups.
Winning at home
Stolz has already raced this fall. At the US qualifier in Milwaukee, October 30 to November 1, he won four events. He took the 500 m in 34.84 seconds and the 1000 m in 1:08.98, then added the 1500 m and a mass start.
What comes next
His World Cup season is set to begin in Obihiro, Japan, November 20 to 22. He has his eye on the World Cup in Kearns, Utah, January 29 to 31, where he hopes to skate fast times and said records are possible if the conditions are good. The 1000 m world record is already his. The bigger target is 2030, when Olympic speed skaters will race at the Thialf rink in Heerenveen, the Netherlands. Stolz has said he is planning for the 2034 Games as well.
