Stolz Smashes Three Track Records on Home Ice in Milwaukee, U.S. Skaters Capture 10 Medals
by Paul D. Bowker
Wisconsin native Jordan Stolz broke Track Records at three distances in the ISU World Cup Speed Skating’s return to Milwaukee, and U.S. skaters captured 10 medals for the second time this season.
In addition to Stolz breaking Track Records in the Men’s 500m, 1000m and 1500m at the Pettit National Ice Center, Brittany Bowe, Mia Manganello and Greta Myers established a U.S. Record in the Women’s Team Pursuit, and Casey Dawson set a National Record in the Men’s 5000m.
Stolz, the two-time reigning World Champion in the Men’s 500m, 1000m and 1500m, celebrated home ice with sweeping all three events in front of cheering hometown fans before closing out the competition with a Silver medal in the second 500m race Sunday.
“They were really energetic towards me,” Stolz, a 2022 Olympian, said about the spectators. “So it was nice to see. Even in the warmup before I even raced. That was really nice to hear.”
It had been 20 years since Milwaukee hosted a Long Track World Cup.
“I always like coming home here. It’s amazing,” said Manganello, a two-time Olympian who also captured third-place finish in the Women’s Mass Start. “We were curious as to how it would feel for all of us because we have so many trials that are here and competitions nationally. But how’s it going to feel with the world cup and the world coming here?
“It just really feels like home. I love it here.”
Stolz started out the weekend by putting down a Track-Record time of 1:06.16 to win the Men’s 1000m Friday. The next day he won the 500m and 1500m, both in Track-Record time, to extend his World Cup winning streak to 18.
In winning the 500m, Stolz became the first skater to post a sub-34-second time at a sea level track. He crossed the line in 33.91 seconds.
“I thought it would be possible,” Stolz said. “I had done 34.07 here a while ago. I think it was a month ago, so I knew I’d be faster.”
He hit the record time in front of a crowd that included Olympic Gold medalists Shani Davis, Dan Jansen and Casey FitzRandolph.
“He (Davis) was going to be handing out awards later,” Stolz said. “I didn’t want to go up and mess up the race and have him give me a medal for second place.”
A little more than an hour later, Stolz won the 1500m in 1:41.46, beating his own Track Record by nearly a second and defeating three-time Olympic champion Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands by more than 1.2 seconds with a blistering final lap.
“Coming up to the last lap, I was just a little bit behind, but I was really attacking,” Stolz said. “When I got into the backstretch with about 50 meters to go, I could see I was really gaining on him, so I knew I would have it.”
After his three-for-three start, Stolz finished as runner-up in the second 500m Sunday, when Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan defeated him by .05 seconds. The last time Stolz raced in a World Cup and didn’t win was on Jan. 28. 2024. His winning streak in the 500m goes back even longer, with his last defeat coming on Dec. 10, 2023.
Dawson, Ethan Cepuran and Emery Lehman combined to post Team USA’s other win of the weekend, claiming the Men’s Team Pursuit title with a time of 3:38.19. It was the second medal of the season for the group, who all were part of the U.S. Bronze-medal team at the 2022 Olympics.
The Women’s Team Pursuit squad of Bowe, Manganello and Myers took third place, but broke a National Record in the process. They had a time of 2:57.02, finishing 2.75 seconds behind winner the Netherlands.
A U.S. Record also fell in the Men’s 5000m, when Dawson finished fourth with a time of 6:07.93. A week earlier, Dawson set a U.S. Record in the 10,000m at Calgary.
Bowe added a second-place finish in the 1000m, the event in which she won an Olympic Bronze medal in 2022. She added a sixth-place finish in the 1500m and a seventh-place finish in the 500m.
Manganello’s Mass Start Bronze medal provided to be an emotional return to the podium.
“Feeling amazing,” Manganello said. “It’s been a really hard fall (season). To be able to feel closer to myself again, get on the podium, had a great 3K earlier this weekend, get on the podium with the girls, and also in the mass start.
“It’s rejuvenating and it feels really good.”
Olympic 500m champion Erin Jackson, who has been battling a back injury, scored a pair of Silver medals in the Women’s 500m. Both races were won by the Netherlands’ Femke Kok, who broke Track Records in each race, topping out at 37.02 on Sunday.
“The race was great,” said Jackson, who has won three medals in the 500m this season. “I came off the line a little bit easier, not to aggravate the back injury, but during the race, I had no issues. After the race, I had a little bit of pain, a little muscle spasms. But then after a few minutes and just relaxing, it’s feeling good again.”
Cooper McLeod finished fourth in the 1000m with a personal-best time of 1:07.58, had ninth- and 11th-place finishes in the 500m. Kimi Goetz took fourth in the 1,000m and 12th in the 500m.
The World Cup resumes Feb. 21-23 in Tomaszow Mazowiecki, Poland.
Paul D. Bowker has been writing about Olympic and Paralympic sports since 1996, when he was an assistant bureau chief in Atlanta. He is a freelance contributor to USSpeedskating.org on behalf of Red Line Editorial, Inc.