MILAN — American speedskater Jordan Stolz’s bid for a third gold medal at the Milan Cortina Olympics came up short with a loss to China’s Ning Zhongyan in the 1,500 meters on Thursday.
Ning won in an Olympic-record time of 1 minute, 41.98 seconds. Stolz, skating in the day’s last heat, finished 0.77 off the pace, adding a silver to the golds he claimed in the 500 and 1,000. The 21-year-old from Wisconsin will participate in his last race, the mass start, on Saturday.
Only two speedskaters have won at least four golds at one Games: Eric Heiden of the U.S. went home with five from the 1980 Lake Placid Olympics, and Lidiya Skoblikova, representing the Soviet Union, claimed four in 1964.
When Stolz finished and his time flashed on the arena’s video boards, Ning began jumping up and down with other members of China’s team. He then grabbed a flag and wore it like a cape for a victory lap.
Ning picked up his third medal at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium, a temporary facility that has been producing swift times, after bronzes in the 1,000 and team pursuit. He won China’s third-ever gold medal in speedskating.
Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands, who won the 1,500 at the 2018 and 2022 Olympics and holds the world record, got the bronze Thursday, 0.07 behind Stolz.
When healthy, Stolz essentially has been favored in every race he entered in recent years. He is a two-time world champion at 500, 1,000 and 1,500 and owns the world record in the 1,000.
After setting Olympic records in the 500 and 1,000 — and becoming the only man other than Heiden to complete that double at a Games — Stolz had his sights set on becoming the first men’s speedskater to win a trio of golds at one Games since Norway’s Johann Olav Koss did it at the Lillehammer Olympics in 1994.
Dutch skater Irene Schouten won three women’s races at the Beijing Olympics four years ago.
Asked to sum up his trip to Italy heading into Thursday, Stolz said: “It’s a success, but it’s more so of a partial success if I don’t win the 1,500, just because I’ve been so good in that distance for so long. So I hope I can win that one.”
His first career Olympic golds had been anticipated, if not downright expected, by many before competition began in Milan.
“I think Jordan,” said Canada’s Laurent Dubreuil, the bronze medalist behind Stolz in the 500, “is the greatest speedskater of all time.”
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