Jordan Stolz heads into the Milan Cortina Olympics with supreme confidence, the American speed skating phenomenon rating himself "95 percent" ready on Thursday as he prepares to launch his gold quest.

The 21-year-old arrives in Milan as speed skating's hottest property and the favorite in three individual events — the 500m, 1000m and 1500m — when speed skating competition begins Saturday. He is also eyeing the unpredictable mass start event.

"Ninety-five percent — that's how I'd rate [my confidence heading into the Olympics]," Stolz told Reuters at a Ralph Lauren red carpet event.

"The World Cup in Inzell went well. Since then I've got some top-speed training and tempo work. I feel good. There's not much more I'd ask for. Not much to complain about. The ice is good enough for me."

With his first race, the 1000m, set for next Wednesday, Stolz said the heavy lifting was already done.

"I'll just touch on a few things, maybe do interval sessions, feel the ice, and get a lot of sleep," he said. "Honestly, I'm feeling good, so I think it'll be all right."

Stolz, who finished 13th in the 500m and 14th in the 1000m during his Olympic debut in Beijing, has established himself as one of the world's fastest sprinters. In the four years since, Stolz has won back-to-back world titles in his three signature distances (2023, 2024), set a new world record in the 1000m, lowered the sea-level marks in all three sprints, and captured the last two-straight overall World Cup titles in each.

"I'm enjoying it. It's nice to be here again after four years," he said. "It only comes once every four years, so I'm trying to enjoy it as much as I can."

He acknowledged the ice conditions took time to settle. 

"The first couple of days the ice wasn't exactly where I wanted it, but they were still prepping it," he said. "Now it's where I like it."

At the 2026 Games, Stolz could become the second U.S. athlete to win three gold medals in any sport at one Winter Olympics (the first was fellow Wisconsinite Eric Heiden, who won all five speed skating events at the 1980 Lake Placid Games).

Julia Yohe contributed to this report.