MILAN — When American speed skating phenom Jordan Stoltz and his family dined out a few months ago while watching a World Cup game in the Netherlands, they didn’t have the opportunity to choose a restaurant based on the type of food it served.
Their first priority was to find a secluded spot in a quiet part of town where Stoltz could enjoy a quiet meal without being recognized.
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As soon as the Stoltzs sat down, a group of men walked past their table and took a second look.
“Who are you Jordan?one of them asked.
Stoltz tried to refuse, but the giggles and giggles from his family gave him away. Soon after, more restaurant patrons came up to their tables to say hello to Stoltz or ask him to pose for photos. He barely had time to put food in his mouth during the interruption.
“It was crazy out there,” said Dirk Stoltz, Jordan’s father. “Everywhere we went, everyone knew him.”
Since bursting onto the global speed skating scene three years ago, Stoltz has become the rare athlete who is more famous internationally than in his home country. The 21-year-old is a superstar in speedskating hotspots such as the Netherlands, Norway and Germany, but he remains almost completely unknown in the United States and even in his native Wisconsin.
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Stoltz took a big step toward change in Milan on Wednesday night, shining in his first of four games on the Olympic stage. The kid who learned to skate on his backyard pond in Keawaskum, Wis., conquered a world-class field in the men’s 1,000 meters to win his first Olympic gold medal.
Stoltz broke the Olympic record by nearly a second with a time of 1 minute, 06.28 seconds.
It’s always foolhardy to guarantee a gold medal in a pressure-filled environment like the Olympics, but it would be a huge surprise to see any other skater besides Stoltz win the men’s 1,000 meters. He’s not just the world record holder in this event. His last World Cup defeat at this distance was in November 2023.
While Stoltz is also clearly expected to win gold in the men’s 1,500 meters on Feb. 19, his other two races pose tougher challenges. The high-intensity, fast-paced 500-meter event features several sprinters who have beaten Stoltz on the World Cup circuit this season. The chaotic collective start event brought an element of randomness, with the entire field racing side by side.
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If Stoltz can win a medal in the next 10 days, it could be life-changing for him and huge for his sport’s reputation in the United States. Stoltz has secured endorsement deals with companies including Hershey and Honda and has received support from NBC. He starred alongside Glen Powell in a hilarious commercial for NBC’s Winter Olympics broadcast.
For Stoltz, his first Olympic gold medal was a major milestone in a journey that began by watching the charismatic Apollo Anton Ohno compete at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. He’s been chasing Olympic glory ever since, catching up with America’s fastest speed skaters as a 16-year-old and then elsewhere in the world a year or two later.
Jane Stolz recalls how ticket scanners initially denied her entry to her son when he attended his first world championships three years ago. No matter how many times she tried, her digital ticket wouldn’t scan correctly.
Jordan then won his first global titles in the 500 meters and 1,000 meters. And those 1,500.
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“At the end of the week, I don’t have to worry about showing my tickets,” Jane said with a smile. “They all know who we are.”
The more games Stoltz won and the more records he broke, the more famous he became. In the speed-skating-obsessed Netherlands, he could rarely finish a meal without being interrupted. He rarely arrives at the gate at Amsterdam Airport without complying with requests for photos or autographs.
Stoltz’s parents received so much television time when he competed that they became well-known among speed skating fans. Jane remembers two elderly women approaching her in an overseas coffee shop when she was exhausted from jet lag. At first, Jane thought they needed help. Then they asked her: “Are you Jordan’s mother?”
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Dirk and Jane knew a couple who immigrated to Wisconsin from the Netherlands and still watched Dutch television regularly.
“They told us they saw us and Jordan on the nightly news all the time,” Jane said.
The contrast to Stoltz’s obscurity in his home country is striking, especially for those not old enough to remember Eric Hayden’s five gold medals at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics. The average Wisconsinite Jane meets doesn’t necessarily know what speed skating is, let alone understand her son’s exploits.
“I think, you know, speed skating, they do circles on an oval?” Jane said. “They’re like, huh? I’m like, you know, Eric Hayden? They still don’t know.”
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Now in his two weeks in the Olympic spotlight in his hometown, Stoltz has his best chance to improve himself and his sport.
Somewhere in the United States, there was a kid watching an Olympic speed skating competition in a backyard pond. Maybe he dreams of being the next Jordan Stoltz.