Record-setting Olympic speed skater Jordan Stolz discusses being honored by his hometown, his fishing hobby, and more
After the Winter Olympics, Stolz, who won two gold medals, sat down with The Inquirer to discuss how to get into speed skating, his post-Olympic life, and more.
In April, speed skater Jordan Stolz was honored by his hometown of Kewaskum, Wis., with a parade — celebrating his two gold medals and one silver medal during the 2026 Winter Olympics.
The 22-year-old even had a street temporarily named after him: Jordan Stolz Avenue.
“It was actually really cool to go there and kind of see like a population of 4,000, because it’s kind of a smaller town, to have people watching speed skating in that small area is pretty cool,” Stolz said.
“It was cool to make contact with the fans. So, it was really fun to be there and walk the parade.”
Stolz, a seven-time world champion, set Olympic records and won gold in the 100-meter and 500-meter races and won silver in the 1,500 meters.
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Since the Olympics, Stolz sat down with The Inquirer to discuss his post-Olympic life, how to get into speed skating, and more.
Growing up, you said that you were inspired by Apolo Ohno. So what does it mean for you to actually be in this position to have younger boys and girls look up to you?
Yeah, it’s kind of that same scenario. If I wouldn’t have saw Apolo skating, [I] probably wouldn’t have started skating. So it could be the same thing for somebody else. I mean, I’ve already had some families come up to me and say they started skating because of me. So that’s kind of cool to live in those footsteps and have somebody else start the same way.
What’s one thing that you want people to know about speed skating that they may not think about?
Maybe the technical and physical side. You have to be so technically perfect, and, physically, your body has to be so in tune for what you’re trying to do. And I think people don’t realize how precise it is.
How does weightlifting play a part?
Well, you only want to do lower body. You don’t want to do any upper body, because that just weighs you down in the turns and it just creates more lactic acid, and you’ll just blow up. I just do squats pretty much. I could probably hit 500 pounds if I wanted to.
What does post-Olympic life look like for you?
It’s been a little busy. I’ve done some media stuff, but I had championships right after, and I did the world sprints and world all-arounds, which is a combination race, and it was over the course of four days. So that was eight races in total.
That was kind of a lot after the Games. Other than that, it’s been nice to just kind of look back and enjoy the success that I’ve had.
What was the biggest thing you missed about being home?
Probably Mitzi, my cat. She’s a little bit overweight, but I’m not saying that’s because [of] Nulo [a cat food brand], but, yeah, she’s definitely addicted to the Nulo treats now. It was really nice to see her. She’s a rescue cat, probably 13 years old.
I saw you like fishing. Can you tell me more about that?
Yeah, I do a bit of fishing. The biggest catch was when I was only like 9 years old. It was like a 135-pound halibut in Alaska. It took about 40 to 45 minutes to reel it in. I didn’t want anybody else to touch the fishing pole because I wanted to take all the credit for it. … I knew it was going to be a big one.
What do you think you would be doing if you weren’t a speed skater?
Probably some other sport. I think, athletically, I’m pretty good. Maybe cycling or something like that. Just whatever would have caught my eye. But luckily it was speed skating, and I’m good at it.
What’s something you wish people asked you more about?
How to get started. You just go to the rink and ask for a pair of speed skates. It’s pretty simple. I guess not every rink has speed skates, but if you’re, like, in the Milwaukee area, it’s pretty easy to get started. You just go there, and somebody will help you out, and you can be on ice in 10 minutes.
Do you have to bend the skates as well?
Yeah, I do my own bending, and I also have somebody who helps me do the rock in the bent. But, yeah, the bend has to be going the way of the turn, and it’s so precise.
You’re talking to the thousandths of an inch. So we all have like gauges and stuff that measure that. You can, like, barely see the bend when you look at it. But you can really feel it.
