After winning a glut of silverware at the ISU Junior World Championships last weekend, Jordan Stolz (USA) had no problem getting back into the swing of things on the senior circuit with victory on the opening day of the final ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Tomaszów Mazowiecki. The 18-year-old Junior World Champion beat Olympic champions Kjeld Nuis (NED) head-to-head in the last 1500m World Cup race of the season on Friday, with Nuis’ second place securing him the World Cup trophy in the distance. In the Men’s Team Sprint event, Netherlands secured the season trophy, finishing third in the season-ending race behind Canada and Norway.
Jordan Stolz stormed to victory in the final Men's 1500m of the season © ISU
Stolz sets track record in spectacular battle
Nuis and Stolz were paired in the penultimate of ten heats and the stage was set for an exciting race between the Dutchman and the American. Stolz took full advantage of skating the first full lap in the inside lane to open up a 0.3 second lead.
Nuis was half a second faster in the second full lap, crossing the 1100m split with a 0.23 advantage, but Stolz then stepped on the gas once more. Chasing Nuis flat-out on the final backstretch, the American benefited from the last inner corner to hammer out a 28.7-second final lap for a track record time of 1:45.44.
Stolz took senior World Cup gold just one week after he was crowned Junior World Champion © ISU
“He just skated an incredible final lap,” said Nuis. “This guy has such tremendous stamina, it already showed in the junior races [at the Junior World Championships in Inzell]. He can skate 3:42 in the 3000m and even 6:20 in the 5000m. That’s just phenomenal.I thought, maybe he’s a little tired after last week, but no way.
“Looking at my own race, I think I did pretty well. I think I forced a bit too much to catch up with Jordan at the 1100m split, after that I was done for and then he thinks, I’ll get you. If I would have had the outside start, I might have been able to beat him today.”
Kjeld Nuis triumphed in the 1500m overall World Cup standings with his silver on Friday © ISU
Stolz surprised even himself, having not expected to skate a track record follwoing his exertions at last week’s Junior Worlds.
“I just never really got tired and just recovered real quickly. Maybe I’m near my peak,” he said.
Winning the World Junior title in his last year in the junior ranks was important to Stolz, even though it meant that he gave up his chance to win the World Cup trophy by missing last week’s fifth race.
“I feel like [the World Junior title] just made up for the years that I lost, the COVID year and the Olympic year missing it, so that's really just what I was looking for.”
Despite coming second to Stolz, Nuis left the track with a big smile on his face and the World Cup Trophy in his hands.
“That means a lot to me. I’ve been on the podium every time I raced. Missed out the first one, and then a bronze, two silvers and two golds.”
Norway’s Sander Eitrem (NOR) ended up with bronze in a time of 1:46.30, making amends for a disappointing display last week, when he broke his blade in a training crash.
Sander Eitrem was satisfied with bronze in the final 1500m of the season © ISU
“This was much better [than last week]. I changed the blades, and it was normal again. Everything is almost perfect now and I’m ready for the World Championships,” he said.
Canada win Team Sprint as Dutch secure trophy
Canada’s Anders Johnson, Laurent Dubreuil and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (CAN) won the final Team Sprint race of the World Cup season in 1:19.53, ending the season second in the World Cup trophy rankings.
Canada won the final Men's Team Sprint of the season in Poland © ISU
Norway (Håvard Lorentzen, Bjørn Magnussen and Henrik Fagerli Rukke) finished the race in second place with a time of 1:20.89, while Netherlands (Stefan Westenbroek, Merijn Scheperkamp, Jarno Botman) took third in 1:21.61, after Japan was disqualified for not wearing mandatory ankle protection.
Norway took silver in the Men's Team Sprint, bearing World Cup winners Netherlands © ISU
The Dutch ended up on top of the World Cup ranking, despite having started with an unbalanced team.
Botman explained: “Normally you would like to have a great 500m skater to start, a 1000m man in second and the fastest 1500m skater to finish it off. We skated with three 500m specialists today.
“We haven’t raced in this formation before, but I think we still did pretty well. The way we executed the race together was good, we just lack a little speed and stamina,” he summarised.
Netherlands took bronze and with it the Men's Sprint World Cup trophy © ISU
Norway’s Bjørn Magnussen and Håvard Lorentzen were happy with silver:
“It feels good to be back with the team on the podium,” said Magnussen, who had been injured for a couple of months.
Lorentzen is looking forward to the World Championships already.
“We lack a little bit of top speed, but I think we can get better [now that Magnussen is back]. We won the World Championships last year, and I think we can get a good result.”
Program
The second of two back-to-back Tomaszów Mazowiecki World Cups events starts with the 1500m and the Team Sprint for Men, and the 500m and 3000m for Women on Friday. On Saturday, the Women will skate the 1500m and the Team Sprint, while the Men take on the 500m and the 5000m, and the Sunday schedule features the 1000m and Mass Start for both genders.
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
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