Heerenveen, NL – Olympic medalist Jordan Stolz is gearing up for one more race at the World Championships in Heerenveen, NL. Last we saw the 21-year-old from Washington County, Wi, was taking home 2 gold and a silver from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan, Italy. Now, Stolz will tackle both the Sprint Championship and the World Allrounds. Before the 4-day event, Stolz took some time to give an update on what his life is like after the Olympic Games.
Stolz is skating at the Thialf Stadium as competition in the World Championships begins Thursday. The last time he skated here in December 2025, he set three new track records in three days.
Click HERE to read about the “Phenom from America”
Stolz is back in the Netherlands, a little more decorated and a lot more recognizable.
“Oh yeah. Here in Holland, I was already recognized a lot before by a lot of people, but now I walk around outside and it’s just person after person after person,” Stolz said. “I was in the grocery store last night and all the checkout girls knew who I was and all the workers too. So that was kind of impressive.”
The girls at the credential check-in at the Thialf giggle when mentioning Jordan Stolz. “We are handing out accrediations and he walks up and said, ‘Checking in for Jordan Stolz,’ and we already know that. Who doesn’t know Jordan.”
The added attention, he insists, is not a burden.
“You have to take extra time to take photos, so it’s fine. It just shows appreciation for the sport, but it doesn’t bother me.”
The Olympic medals themselves are not far from reach.
“They are under my pillow in my bed,” he said. “Something I don’t really want to let them out of my possession because I’ve earned them.”
A week later, the accomplishment still feels slightly surreal.
“It’s a good feeling to have two gold and silver after you’ve been preparing for it for the last, you could say four years, but even in the last year it’s just been so long and building up and everything,” he said. “Then once it’s finally over it’s kind of like a blur because now it’s in the past. It feels like it was really long ago but it really wasn’t.”
While he struck gold in the 500 and 1000 meters, Stolz admitted he has dissected his silver-medal performance in the 1500 meter.
“I’ve been picking that apart and it just wasn’t my race that day,” he said. “I just didn’t get it going enough in the beginning. I thought I was going much harder than I actually was, but then I saw the 25.4 and I was like, ‘This is not a good race.’ But it is what it is. Silver’s not bad, right?”
Stolz has rewatched the sprint races “a lot of times” and is “really happy with how those went.”
As for the Mass Start, a race he would like back, Stolz said the only change would have been tactical.
“The only thing I would do different is try and jump on the first break right away,” he said. “It’s just surprising that 14 guys in the field weren’t going to try and pull it back… they kind of expected me to do the work, even though I’m the most sprinter type guy in the field.”
Now, attention turns to the World Championships in Heerenveen, where Stolz is aiming to echo his 2024 dominance. The Olympic peak has softened into recovery mode.
“I’ve kind of just been resting. I’ve been practicing some longer laps for the All-arounds and just a lot of rest,” he said. “I feel good though. My laps for 10K and 5K, it feels all right. I think I could put up a good time. I don’t know if I can skate at the same level in those distances as I did in 2024, but I think it can be close.”
The pressure, he admits, is different now.
“It’s not going to feel as pressured as it usually does for this one just because the Games was on another level,” he said. “But once I think back to the previous World Championships, then you start to realize this is another big competition that you have to do well in.”
Beyond the medals and meet-and-greets, Stolz confirmed a crew is filming a documentary about his rise.
“I have a documentary being filmed by a Dutch group,” he said. “They came to the Olympics and filmed some stuff. So it’s a lot of interviews and just following and getting a small piece of what I’ve been up to.”
Coach Bob Corby said, Stolz set the bar high a couple years ago when he secured both the Sprint and the Allround titles at the Thialf. He said we’ll have to see how he fairs this weekend.
The ISU World Championships start Thursday, March 5, 2026.
According to coach Bob Corby, Stolz won in Inzell in 2024 and became only the third skater to have won the sprints and the World Allround Championships in their lifetime joining the likes of Eric Heiden and Shani Davis.
The Sprint Championships are the first two days and the lowest average of those four races is the world sprint champion. Saturday and Sunday it’s the world Allround Championships with distances of 500m and 5000m on Saturday and 1500m and 10,000m on Sunday and whoever has the lowest average time is the World Allround champion.
Stay tuned for live coverage at WashingtonCountyInsider.com
On a side note:
-The Dutch construction is amazing from its network of bicycle paths to insulated windows to energy usage. As you can see during the interview with coach Corby – the lights went out in the room in the middle of the interview because sensors detected no motion. I left that segment in, just to give you a feel of what goes on behind the scenes.
-In the Jordan interview, note the brief break. It’s because a young girl at the Thialf spotted him and waited at the side with her phone camera. Fame has not gone to Jordan’s head as he was very agreeable to pause for a second so she could take her picture. Stolz talks about the increase in recognizability and how the requests are not a burden because he’s helping shine a spotlight on the sport of speedskating.
-A note of thanks to everyone, all the businesses and organizations that helped make this coverage possible. What a great gift Jordan Stolz is to the community. I feel honored to be able to tell his story.
-Also a thanks to my hosts who adopted me for the next four days in Heerenveen and gave me a safe place to stay, and a bicycle. Love exploring Heerenveen. The above photo is the sunset from Tuesday evening. The neighborhood is full of Dutch speedskaters including Jutta Leerdam, Kjeld Nuis, and Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong.
