Olympic speed skating results: Jordan Stolz settles for silver in the 1,500

Feb 19, 2026 - 18:30
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Olympic speed skating results: Jordan Stolz settles for silver in the 1,500
MILAN, ITALY - FEBRUARY 14: Jordan Stolz of Team United States competes during the Speed Skating Men's 500m on day eight of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympic games at Milano Speed Skating Stadium on February 14, 2026 in Milan, Italy. (Photo by Andreas Rentz/Getty Images) | Getty Images

Jordan Stolz fell short of Team USA history on Thursday at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Having already secured a pair of gold medals in Milan, first in the 1,000-meter and then in the 500, Stolz set his eyes on gold in the 1,500-meter speed skating event on Thursday. With a third gold medal Stolz would join the legendary Eric Heiden as the only Americans to win three gold medals or more at a single Winter Olympics. Heiden’s mark of five individual gold medals at a single Winter Olympics, a feat he accomplished at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, stands alone.

But Stolz fell short in that quest.

The American went off in the 15th and final pairing of the night, skating with Norway’s Peder Kongshaug. Poland’s Vladimir Semirunniy set the early pace with a time of 1:45.37, which he set in the sixth pairing of the event, but the major contenders — including Stolz — were yet to take to the ice. That included Kjeld Nuis, the two-time gold medalist at this distance.

Joep Wennemars was the first of those contenders, the Dutch skater up in the 11th pair against Italy’s Daniele di Stefano. Wennemars was frustrated in the 1,000-meter event when he was impeded on a lane change, and while he took his re-skate he could not reach the podium.

But the Dutch skater went 24.97 on his first full lap, a blazing pace at the outset. His final lane change with Di Stefano was clean, and he crossed the line with a 1:43.05, a new Olympic record that put him into the lead for the moment.

However, the game changed with the 13th pairing of the night, Nuis and Ning Zhongyan of China. While Nuis entered as the two-time Olympic champion in this event, it was Ning who set a new Olympic record with a time of 1:41.98, which put the Chinese skater into the lead while Nuis settled into second.

Finally, it was time for Stolz. But the American got off to a slow start and was behind the pace set by Ning over the first two laps. While the American speed skater was able to close the gap, he fell short in his quest for a third individual gold, settling for silver with a time of 1:42.75.

Stolz will have another chance at an individual gold later this week with the mass start event.

For Ning, this is a massive improvement on his seventh-place finish in the 1,500 four years ago in Beijing. His best finish in the 1,500-meter race was a fourth-place finish, most recently in Norway last year.

Here are the top ten finishers from the men’s 1,500-meter event:

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