MILAN — On the night he won his second gold medal at the Olympics, speed skating phenom Jordan Stoltz pondered an interesting question.
Would he consider his Olympics a success if he hadn’t accomplished more? When he returns home to Wisconsin, will he have the satisfaction of proving he’s the fastest skater in the world over 500 and 1,000 meters?
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Stoltz’s answer offers a window into the mentality of an athlete at the top of his game, one with the ambition to achieve something truly historic in Milan. Stoltz said the Olympics would be only a “partial success” if he didn’t check gold medals off the 1,500 items on his to-do list.
“I’ve been good at this distance for a long time,” Stoltz said, “so I’m hoping I can win that one as well.”
Five days later, in front of a cheering crowd, Stoltz failed to become the first athlete in 46 years to complete the sprint triple crown in speed skating at the Olympics. Stoltz’s second-place finish in the 1,500 meters on Thursday in a time of 1 minute, 42.75 seconds earned him two gold medals and a silver with one race remaining before he leaves Milan.
As Stoltz got a chance to skate on the final pair of the race, the 21-year-old knew the exact moment he needed to beat as he stood on the starting line. Among the two previous pairs, Chinese player Ning Zhongyan completed three and three-quarter laps in an Olympic record of 1 minute and 41.98 seconds, and hopes that his results can be maintained.