Jordan Stolz, the 21-year-old American speed skating phenom who could win as many as four gold medals at the 2026 Winter Olympics, secured the World Cup season title in the men's 1500m for the second year in a row with a win at the Inzell World Cup on Jan. 23.

Stolz entered the weekend as the World No. 1 in all three sprint distances. The World Cup stop in Inzell, Germany marks the fifth and final leg of the 2025-26 tour, marking the last chance for Stolz to repeat as the season champion in his signature races.

Stolz flew around the oval in his 1500m pair, posting a final time of 1 minute, 41.95 seconds. His final mark, which outpaced that of 2nd place-finisher Ning Zhongyan by over one second, just was 0.17 seconds slower than the track record he set in 2024 (1:41.78).

In 2023, Stolz became the youngest skater to win a world title and the first-ever man to claim three titles (500m, 1000m, 1500m) at a single world championship. He repeated his golden hat trick the following year. 

In his first race of the day, the men's 500m, Stolz finished 0.17 seconds behind Poland's Damian Zurek for 2nd place, ending his 10-race win streak in the sprints. Zurek's winning time of 34.09 seconds — which secured his first gold of the season — also eclipsed the track record Stolz set in March 2024 just by one one-hundredth of a second. At both the third and fourth World Cups, Stolz set new track records in the 500m, the 1000m, and the 1500m.

Stolz's silver finish behind Zurek all but clinched his second-straight season title in the 500m, creating a narrowly-insurmountable 64-point deficit between him and Zurek. 

American Cooper McLeod, who will make his Olympic debut in Milan Cortina, finished 9th in the 500m in Inzell. 

The Dutch continued to dominate the women's field, winning both the 500m and 1500m.

Femke Kok, who opened the season with a new world record in the women's 500m, extended her 23-month unbeaten streak in the distance, shaving 0.2 seconds off her own track record in the process. She skated across the finish line in 36.87 seconds for her eighth individual gold of the season. Countrywoman Jutta Leerdam earned silver behind her.

Reigning Olympic and World Cup champion Erin Jackson finished just off the podium in 4th, though she maintains her position as the World No. 2.

Joy Beune won her sixth-straight individual race this season, skating to gold in the 1500m in 1:53.34. World No. 1 Miho Takagi finished 0.25 seconds behind her. The Japanese skater has owned the world record in the distance since 2019 and has won the last five-straight World Cup titles.

Brittany Bowe finished 5th. The 37-year-old, who will retire at the end of this season, has landed inside the top six in each of her individual races so far this season.

The Inzell World Cup continues Saturday, Jan. 24, with the 1000m races, the women's 3000m, and the men's 5000m.

Below are the full results of the first day of competition: