MILWAUKEE, WI — No matter what he did at the Olympic trials, Jordan Stolz was assured of going to the Milano Cortina Games.
A stumble in his best event, the 1,000 meters, was a reminder of why that is. And why it’s a good thing.
‘Jordan’s a really awesome skater, so I’m really glad he was protected in that moment,’ said Jackson, who will race both the 500 and 1,000 meters in Milano Cortina after winning the latter distance earlier Saturday.
‘He still ended up getting third, but yeah, it’s nice to have those protections,’ Jackson added. ‘We want to have our medal contenders out contending for medals at the Games.’
The third-place finish will do nothing to change Stolz’s status as the man to beat in Milano Cortina — just as he has been for the last three years. Stolz won the 1,000 and 1,500 meters at each of the four World Cups this season, and five of the seven 500-meter races. He was the overall winner at all three distances last season, and swept the three sprints at the world championships in 2023 and 2024.
Oh, and after adding the mass start to his program after a three-year absence, Stolz made the podium twice, including a win last month in Hamar, Norway.
But ice is slippery, and Jackson’s experience four years ago convinced U.S. Speedskating that results at trials don’t always ensure the best team.
Jackson was ranked No. 1 in the world in the 500 meters coming into the 2022 Olympic trials, only to stumble at the start and finish third in a race where the U.S. could send only two skaters. Brittany Bowe, who had won the race, eventually relinquished her place, saying Jackson was the better shot for a medal at that distance.
Jackson proved her right by winning gold.
(Jake Paul’s fiancée Jutta Leerdam, who won the 1,000 meters at two World Cups this season, is waiting out a similar fate after crashing at the Dutch Olympic trials.)
To avoid anything like that happening again, U.S. Speedskating changed its qualifying procedures for Milano Cortina. Athletes who won medals at last season’s world championships could pre-qualify for the Olympic team by finishing in the top-five at the same distance at two of the first four World Cups. Which Stolz did, in the 500 meters, the 1,000 meters and the 1,500 meters.
Athletes who made the podium in the same distance at two World Cups also pre-qualified ahead of trials, so Stolz is locked for the mass start, too. Jackson locked her spot in the 500 meters this way, too.
‘That sucks. I’m glad he was already qualified,’ Cooper McLeod, who qualified for his first Olympic team by finishing second behind Conor McDermott-Mostowy, said of Stolz’s stumble.
Because all he had to do was show up, Stolz was planning on using his races at Olympic trials more as training. But he’s been under the weather with a cold the last few days, and said he ‘just didn’t have the right feeling today.’
‘I’ve been a little cramped up because I’ve been dehydrated,’ Stolz said. ‘That was more so the issue today.’
Stolz caught a toe pick in the ice just after the start and fell. He quickly got back up and was able to close most of the distance on McDermott-Mostowy, but not all. His time of 1:07.97 was 0.36 seconds behind McDermott-Mostowy.
‘I just tried to get it all out. Go as hard as I could and see what would happen, where I would end up,’ Stolz said. ‘I was still OK.’
And still on the Olympic team.
The third-place finish would have gotten Stolz to Milano Cortina under the procedures four years ago. But when someone has as much medal potential as Stolz does, or as Jackson did four years ago, some things are best not left to chance.
The United States wants to send its very best team to every Olympics, and that doesn’t always happen when qualifying procedures are hard-and-fast. U.S. Speedskating learned that the hard way four years ago.
Other national governing bodies should, too.
‘Obviously he wanted to put together a cleaner race than that, but that’s just how it goes sometimes. That’s racing,’ McLeod said. ‘He handled it very impressively. He handled it like the many-time world champion that he is. So that was really cool to see.
‘And I think that he should be very confident going into the Games.’
Follow USA TODAY Sports columnist Nancy Armour on social media @nrarmour.