American speed skating phenom Jordan Stolz skated to his third medal of the 2026 Winter Olympics Thursday, taking silver in the 1500m behind China's Ning Zhongyan.
His first two prizes, both gold and both won in Olympic record time, came in the 500m and 1000m.
Stolz posted the fifth-fastest opening split of the field — a typical start for the 21-year-old phenom, known for having the best last lap in the world. In three of his five 1500m wins on the World Cup this season, he entered the final lap of the race behind. In a fourth, he led by a mere 0.01 seconds.
He seemed to struggle more than usual in Thursday's race, however, finding himself 1.35 seconds behind leader Ning ahead of the final 400 meters. He cut over half a second off that deficit by the end, a significant margin in a sport often decided by one-hundredths of a second, skating up from 4th to 2nd by the time he crossed the finish line.
Stolz's final time of 1 minute, 42.75 seconds was slower than four of his 1500m races on this year's World Cup, including the most recent contest in Inzell, Germany (1:41.958). His winning times in the 500m and 1000m in Milan were half a second faster than the marks he posted in Inzell.
Still, his silver makes him the only American so far to claim three medals at the 2026 Games. It's the first time a U.S. skater has made the 1500m podium since Shani Davis finished 2nd in 2010.
Since he burst onto the scene with two surprise wins at the 2022 Olympic Trials at age 17, Stolz has completely dominated the sprint world. In the 1500m, he owns two world titles, the last two World Cup titles, the junior world record, and the sea-level senior world record. During the 2025-26 World Cup season, he skated to two track records in the distance: one at World Cup No. 3 in Heerenveen, Netherlands, and one at World Cup No. 4 in Hamar, Norway.
He is also a two-time world champion and the two-time reigning World Cup champion in the 500m and 1000m.
Stolz will end his tenure in Milan with the mass start Feb. 21, an event he added to his program just this season.
If he wins the mass start — a feat he managed once on the World Cup this season — Stolz could become the second-ever American athlete after Eric Heiden to collect three or more gold medals in any sport at a single Winter Games. Heiden won gold in all five of his events at the 1980 Lake Placid Games. Forty-six years ago Thursday, Heiden grabbed his third.
Ning skated the race of his live, shaving nearly one-and-a-half seconds off the Olympic record set by the Netherlands' Kjeld Nuis in 2022 (1:43.21). The win marks his first in any distance on the Olympic level and China's first in the 1000m. His final time of 1 minute, 41.98 seconds outpaced Stolz's by 0.77 seconds.
Making his second Olympic appearance, Ning also claimed bronze in both the 1000m and the men's team pursuit. His 1500m gold makes him the first Chinese skater to earn three Olympic medals in men's speed skating.
Nuis, who set the world record in 2019 and won the last two Olympic titles, rounded out the podium.
The top four finishers — a group which includes Dutch skater and 1000m world champion Joep Wennemars — all finished faster than Nuis' former Olympic record.
American Emery Lehman placed 25th, and Casey Dawson finished 29th. The two skated to silver in the team pursuit Tuesday.
Speed skating continues Friday, Feb. 20, with the women's 1500m. Skaters are scheduled to take the ice at 10:30 a.m. E.T.
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🥇Ning Zhongyan (CHN) |