Jordan Stolz leads the World Allround Speed Skating Championships at the halfway point, looking to repeat as the winner of one of sport’s most storied competitions.
Stolz, the Olympic 500m and 1000m gold medalist, tops the standings after skating the fastest 500m and 11th-fastest 5000m on Saturday in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
The skaters race a 1500m and a 10,000m on Sunday, after which the world allround champion is decided combining all four results.
Norway’s Sander Eitrem, who is in second place, could challenge Stolz’s lead on Sunday given he is better at longer distances. At the Olympics, Eitrem won the 5000m and placed ninth in the 1500m and seventh in the 10,000m. Stolz rarely skates distances longer than 1500m.
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The World Allround Championships have been held officially since 1893 and crown the world’s best overall skater, mixing sprints and distance races.
Distance skaters have traditionally dominated allrounds, which makes the sprinter Stolz’s success — including winning the title in 2024 — all the more noteworthy.
Stolz is already making history just by competing at allrounds after placing second to Dutch rival Jenning de Boo in the World Sprint Championships on Thursday and Friday (a 500m and 1000m each day).
Stolz is the second skater to start both biennial competitions in the same year since they were combined into one weekend starting in 2020. He would be the first to complete both competitions under the new format.
Given the busy schedule, he said he “didn’t have it in the legs” in the 5000m, where he skated 6:19.66. Two years ago, he skated the 5000m at world allrounds in 6:14.76, but he was more rested because he skipped the sprint worlds that year.
“I would have liked it to be a little bit faster (in the 5000m), but I thought it was OK,” he told Dutch broadcaster NOS on Saturday. “I would have liked to have 6:15, maybe 6:14 ... I think on a good day, or rested, I could probably do it, but it wasn’t today.”
Stolz’s current lead of .915 points translates to 9.15 seconds in the 10,000m.
Stolz will likely add to his lead in Sunday’s opening 1500m. By how much could be key given Eitrem’s advantage in the closing 10,000m.
Eitrem skated a 10,000m in Heerenveen in 12:41.34 in December. Stolz’s most recent 10,000m — at the 2024 World Allrounds in Inzell, Germany — was 13:04.76.
“Jordan Stolz is the best skater in my eyes, but it’s nice to see that he is also a human being and that he also starts to show a bit of weakness,” Eitrem said after he shattered the track record by nearly three seconds in Saturday’s 5000m, according to the International Skating Union.
Stolz would be the first man to finish on the podium in the sprint and allround worlds in the same year since 1988 — American Eric Flaim won the allround and placed third in the sprint.
In the women’s competition, Japan’s Miho Takagi and Norway’s Ragne Wiklund are tied for the lead after the first day.
Wiklund, looking to become the first Norwegian woman to win allrounds since 1938, has the edge on day two given the distances are longer than day one, and Takagi is better suited to the shorter events.
World Allrounds conclude Sunday, live on Peacock starting at 8:30 a.m. ET.
