On Friday, Jordan Stolz set a record as the youngest ever single distance world champion by winning the men's 500-meter event at the 2023 ISU World Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
Runner-up Laurent Dubreuil finished 0.36 seconds behind the 18-year-old American, whose timing of 34.10 seconds was barely 0.03 seconds off the track record.
Stolz also made history by being the first speed skater in almost 40 years to win both the junior and senior world titles in the same season. This had previously been done by Beth and Eric Heiden in 1979 and 1977 and 1978, respectively.
Stolz has been compared to Eric Heiden, another Wisconsinite and speed skating legend who won five gold medals in the 1980 Olympics.
