- The men’s team pursuit set a new world record, while the women’s team pursuit won bronze on the final day of the World Cup speed skating event at the Utah Olympic Oval.
- Mia Manganello won gold in the women’s mass start, and Erin Jackson took silver in the 500 meters.
- Jordan Stolz won three gold medals earlier in the weekend but did not medal on the final day.
KEARNS, Utah — Jordan Stolz isn’t the only American speed skater who will be a medals threat at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.
Though Stolz was kept off the World Cup podium Sunday – missing a medal in the second 500 meters by a mere 0.01 seconds – his U.S. teammates collected plenty of hardware.
Casey Dawson, Emery Lehman and Ethan Cepuran won the men’s team pursuit with a world-record time. Brittany Bowe, Mia Manganello and Greta Myers won bronze in the women’s team pursuit. Manganello then won gold in the women’s mass start.
Erin Jackson won a second silver medal in the women’s 500 meters, and her time of 36.57 seconds Sunday was a personal best.
This after Stolz won the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters the first two days of the World Cup, flirting with world records in both the 1,000 and the 1,500.
“It’s a really good start,” Jackson said. “I think we still have a lot more to show as well. We have a lot of deep talent in our team, and I think it’s going to be a good season for us.”
Do not read anything into the fact Stolz missed the podium Sunday, finishing fourth in the 500 and 15th in the mass start, which he raced for the first time at a World Cup since 2021. Olympic gold medals are not won, or lost, at the first World Cup of the season.
Rather, this weekend was a good way to gauge where you are. Where your competition is. What’s working. What needs tweaking.
“I was a little tired today from the previous races, but I think I’m in a good spot right now,” Stolz said Sunday night. “And as I get stronger, it’s going to get even better.”
Stolz leaves with three wins, a personal best and a lot of data points that will help him be even better at the Milano Cortina Olympics in February.
He also put himself in good position to lock a spot on the U.S. team ahead of the Olympic trials, needing only a top-five finish in either the 500, 1,000 or 1,500 meters at one of the next three World Cups. The next World Cup is next weekend in Calgary, Alberta.
Though Stolz was fourth in the 500, he skated faster than he had in Saturday’s race, which he won.
“I felt like I skated a better race today. I just didn’t have the power in the legs after all the races,” Stolz said.
But that is not an indication of … anything, coming at the end of a weekend in which he raced five times and his top competitors all having the races of their lives. Stolz’s performances over the first two days reinforced his status as the favorite in all three of the distances.
“He skated really well, won three races, so we know we’re in the right place and can’t worry about anything else,” Bob Corby, Stolz’s coach, said. “Just got to go back training again and try to play the balance of training and resting from now until Olympic trials and the Games.
“When it came up No. 4 (in the 500), I was like, `Oh! OK. Well, it’s OK.’ If it was four yesterday and four today, it would’ve been a little concerning,” Corby added. “But it was OK.”
Stolz also got a refresher on the mass start, which he hopes to race in Milan. His 15th-place finish keeps him in the ‘A’ race and, more importantly, gives him valuable intel of the competition for the next time he races it.
“I didn’t really have a strategy because it was the first one and I wanted to see what everybody else was doing,” Stolz said. “I’ll have to keep working on it and figure out which each guy does in the race.”
It’s one World Cup, and there are still 2½ months until Milan. But Stolz and the Americans are off to a strong start.
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