MILAN (AP) — Jordan Stolz's path to multiple speed skating gold medals at the Milan Cortina Olympics began at age 5 in front of a TV at home in Wisconsin, sitting with his older sister, Hannah, to check out the 2010 Vancouver Games.
WATCH: Jordan Stolz's parents reflect on son's Olympic career, starting on Kewaskum pond
“They saw the opening ceremonies. Everything looked pretty and cool. They loved it. Then they started watching the figure skating — and I turned around, and both kids were gone. They were unimpressed,” their mother, Jane, recalled. “And then Apolo Ohno came on for short track, and — Boom! — they were right back into it and watching, They liked skiing, too. They liked anything fast, really. They really got obsessed with the speed skating, for some reason.”
Soon, their father, Dirk, was in the family's backyard, clearing snow off a frozen pond so the kids could try skating — while wearing lifejackets, at Mom's insistence. “I remember going out there," Dirk said, "and Jane's yelling at me, ‘They're not going out on that ice! They're going to fall through the ice!’” And, well, here we are: Jordan Stolz, now 21, already owns a pair of golds from Milan seeks another in Thursday's 1,500 meters.
“It’s a success, but it’s more so of a partial success if I don’t win the 1,500,” Stolz said after winning the 500 on Saturday to follow up on his victory in the 1,000 on Feb. 11, both in Olympic-record times, “just because I've been so good in that distance for so long. So I hope I can win that one.”
Truth is, he's so good at every distance he commits himself to. That includes a pair of world titles each at 500, 1,000 and 1,500.
Stolz’s origin story is an oft-told tale, particularly well-known to those who follow speed skating, yet it bears repeating as the American continues his quest for a total of four titles at these Olympics; he's also entered in the mass start on Saturday.
Thinking back all those years to when he cheered for Ohno, an eight-time medalist for the U.S., the generally soft-spoken Stolz's voice rises.
“That really intrigued me. That was something that caught my eye,” Stolz said. “All the other sports didn’t really interest me.”
What was it about speed skating?
“Just watching them go really fast and pass each other,” Stolz said, noting that he started off in Ohno's sport, short track, before shifting the focus to long track about 10 years later. “It was something I actually paid attention to.”
Now the world is paying full attention to him. And he has not shown a single sign of being bothered by the expectations that accompany him at his second Olympics.
As it is, he is only the second man in history to complete the 500-1,000 speedskating double at one Winter Games, joining Eric Heiden, who collected five golds at the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics.
Heiden, who also grew up skating on a Wisconsin pond, has been following Stolz's career for years and attended his first two events in Milan.
“If you have confidence and mental toughness, it’s easy. For me, it was the same thing,” Heiden said. “You're physically skilled, you’re mentally tough. Jordan is the same thing. He goes to the starting line and, I would suspect, he thinks he's probably going to win.”
Watch: Slinger teachers recall Olympic speed skater Jordan Stolz's elementary school days
At about midnight the nights before his first two races, Stolz called his parents for a quick chat. When they spoke after the 500, he sent his mom a photo of that gold medal sitting on his pillow.
Next on the to-do list for Stolz would be becoming the first man since Johann Olav Koss at the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics to grab three victories in long track speed skating at one Winter Games (the Norwegian won the 1,000, 1,500 and 5,000).
“If I have a good 1,500,” Stolz said, “it should turn out well. I’m hoping for gold in that.”
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