Jordan Stolz (USA) stormed to victory in the 1000m to win his second gold of the weekend. @ ISU
After winning the 1500m in a track record on Friday, Jordan Stolz (USA) struck again in the 1000m on Sunday. Although still a junior, the 18-year-old Wisconsin prodigy left Olympic silver medalist Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) almost half a second behind in second place. In the Mass Start, Felix Rijhnen (GER) and Gabriel Odor (AUT) set up a spectacular breakaway, with the German beating the Austrian to take his first World Cup gold in speed skating.
‘Unbeatable' Stolz has room for improvement
In the 1000m, Stolz took on Olympic champion Thomas Krol (NED) in the eighth pairing. The US youngster seemed rather underwhelmed by his opponent’s status. Starting 0.3 faster than Krol, he stopped the clock at 1 minute, 8.72 seconds, leaving the Dutchman 0.92s behind.
Stolz was the only one to skate under 1:09, with Dubreuil coming second in 1:09.22, and Ryota Kojima (JPN) third in 1:09.31. Krol had to settle for fifth place.
Stolz surprised himself once more after his 1500m win on Friday. Also having skated the 5000m on Saturday, he did not expect to have much left in the tank on Sunday.
“It was interesting how I would feel after the 5000m in the second lap [of the 1000m],” he said. “The first lap I was good…
“I did feel that 5000m in the second lap, but I don’t think it affected the outcome too much.”
Despite his two gold medals, Stolz said he could still grow into the season and improve physically:
“I’ve had a little bit of rest, but just enough to give me bit of a boost. I can always go back into training and start building again. I wouldn’t say that I’m at a peak right now. For sure I can get more out of it.”
Dubreuil was happy with silver:
“I like to get the race where you can go a tenth faster here and another tenth there, but he [Stolz] beat me by half a second. There was no way I was going to beat him today. Silver was the best I could do.”
“When I was much better in the 500m [than in the 1000m], I felt like there was only one race to do good, and if you have a bad race, your weekend is over.
“So, over the years, I tried to add the 1000m, and I'm extremely happy that it led to a medal [Olympic silver] last year. Now this year, I really tried train to have two chances every weekend.”
Rijhnen and Odor surprise the pack
In the Mass Start, Rijhnen and Odor conquered the podium by surprise. The German and the Austrian attacked straight from the start and managed to carry their two-man breakaway all the way to the finish line, where Rijhnen pipped Odor to by a few inches.
Felix Rijhnen (GER) wins his first World Cup gold in the Men's Mass Start. @ ISU
Rijhnen, who won a World Title in inline skating in 2017 before turning his attention back to the ice two years ago, tells the story of his race:
“Livio Wenger (SUI) was leading the warm-up lap. He didn't want to keep leading and went completely to the side. I saw the pack was hesitating a bit, and the old inline instinct came through, ‘just go all-in’.
“I was a bit surprised that Odor was with me, because the first two laps I thought I was alone, but it worked out really well. Both coaches, mine and his, were screaming to change every 200 meters and that's what we did. It was good to keep the pace high, because we couldn’t be sure, we couldn't play around. Even if you have 200 meters [on the pack] they can come back really quick.”
But working together in a race where only one skater takes gold has to stop at some point – and Rijhnen was the first to break the pact:
“I decided with a lap and a half to go, that it was time to attack. At first I got a gap, but he came very, very close. He caught up with me and actually got next to me on the last straight. I just had a tiny bit more energy to push it until the line.”
“I knew it was going to be hard to finish top six in a final sprint, and I got the opportunity to go for the breakaway with Felix [Rijhnen],” said Odor. “I thought: I have got to give it a chance, maybe the for first [intermediate] sprint. Then the gap was quite big after three or four laps already, so Felix and I knew we needed to go for it.”
“[Towards the end] I tried to make it look as if I was a bit more tired than I actually was, with a lap and a half to go, but I still had something in the tank. When I went to the side, he attacked and I went with him. I got pretty close, but I made some little technical mistakes, so I couldn't keep up the speed I had.”
Far behind gold and silver, Bart Hoolwerf (NED) beat Olympic champion Bart Swings (BEL) in a consolation sprint for bronze.
A two-man breakaway leaves the field fighting for bronze in the Mass Start. @ ISU
Hoolwerf said: “Right from the start, two men jumped away, then you have to react swiftly because if you don’t you have to chase for a long time and that costs a lot of energy. We [Hoolwerf and team-mate Louis Hollaar] were the only team with two men in the final, so everybody is looking at us. Louis did what he could, but after also having skated the 1000m today, he had emptied the tank already.”
The World Cup resumes in Heerenveen (NED) next week.
For all information about the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series, please visit the webpage here.
World Cup Standings - Men
World Cup Standings - Women
Where to watch
Viewers will be able to watch the World Cup sessions (local time) via their national broadcaster/channel.
For countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to watch webpage here.
ISU World Cup Short Track Speed Skating Series events 2022/23:
Nov 11 - 13, 2022 Stavanger /NOR
Nov 18 - 20, 2022 Heerenveen/ NED
Dec 09 - 11, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Dec 16 - 18, 2022 Calgary /CAN
Feb 10 - 12, 2023 Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
Feb 17 - 19, 2023 World Cup Final - Tomaszów Mazowiecki /POL
About ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series
The ISU World Cup Speed Skating is a Series of international Speed Skating competitions which takes place annually.
The Series started in 1985 and usually consists of six or seven events including the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Final. The events take place across North America, Europe and Asia.
Skaters can earn points at each competition, and the skater who has the most points on a given distance at the end of the Series is the World Cup winner of that particular distance.
The results from the World Cup competitions in the first part of the season are the main qualifying method for the ISU Speed Skating Championships and also for the Olympic Winter Games.
A number of World Cup titles are awarded every season, for Men: 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, combined 5000 m / 10000 m, Team Pursuit, Mass Start and Team Sprint. For Women 500 m, 1000 m, 1500 m, the combined 3000 m / 5000 m, Team Pursuit, Mass Start and Team Sprint. For further information please visit isu.org.
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