An 18-year-old from Wisconsin became the youngest world champion in speed skating history on Friday.
Jordon Stolz from Wisconsin won the men’s 500-meter race at the at the ISU World Speedskating Championships in 34.10 seconds at the Thialf, a venue in Heerenveen, Netherlands. He bested Canadian Laurent Dubreuil, the previous world champion, by 36 hundredths of a second — the largest margin in men’s 500-meter history based on new margin calculations, according to NBC Sports.
HISTORY‼️ 🥇
18-year-old American Jordan Stolz is the youngest world single distance champion EVER after winning the 500m at the 2023 ISU World Speedskating Championships. pic.twitter.com/I16eFZgNOy
— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) March 3, 2023
“Been feeling really snappy all week,” Stolz told Dutch broadcaster NOS, according to the outlet. Stolz added that the fast time was “really surprising.”
“At the finish line I crossed going 61 kilometers [38 miles] per hour,” he added, according to the outlet. (RELATED: Olympics Viewers, Onlookers Scratch Heads Over Controversial Call DQing US, Russian Skaters As China Wins Gold)
Stolz will race the 1000-meter Saturday and the 1500-meter Sunday, NBC Sports reported. He has won two World Cup races at each this season.
Stolz added that he hoped he could “bring back popularity,” to speed skating in the U.S., according to NBC.