Jordan Stolz won his first race of the world speed skating championships as the 19-year-old American bids to repeat his unprecedented feat from a year ago — capturing three individual golds.
Stolz sprinted to victory in the 500m in 33.69 seconds, the second-fastest time in history, in Calgary on Friday. It was eight hundredths off Russian Pavel Kulizhnikov’s world record from 2019.
“I didn’t think I’d do 33.6, that’s pretty fast,” Stolz told Dutch broadcaster NOS.
He prevailed by 26 hundredths over Canadian Laurent Dubreuil, who also took silver behind Stolz last year.
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Stolz is slated to skate the 1000m on Saturday and the 1500m on Sunday, live on Peacock.
Last year, Stolz became the youngest skater to win a world title and the first man to win three individual golds at a single world championships, sweeping the 500m, 1000m and 1500m.
Earlier this season, he broke his first world record in the 1000m, lowered his American record in the 500m (to 33.96, which he then crushed Friday) and broke Shani Davis’ American record in the 1500m to become the third-fastest man in history in that event.
Stolz won his last eight World Cup races across those three distances.
Earlier Friday, American Kimi Goetz earned her first individual world championships medal, bronze in the 500m.
Goetz, a 29-year-old short track convert, skated 37.21 in the final pair with Dutchwoman Femke Kok, who repeated as world champion in 36.83.
Goetz is better in the 1000m, which is held Saturday at worlds. She’s ranked No. 2 in the world this season in that event.
On the first day of worlds Thursday, 36-year-old Czech Martina Sablikova earned her 25th career individual distance medal, bronze in the 3000m, to move two shy of German Claudia Pechstein’s record total. Sablikova’s first medal came in 2007.
Sablikova skates again in Sunday’s 5000m.
Peacock airs live coverage of worlds at 2:30 p.m. ET on Saturday and 2 p.m. on Sunday.
