The 2026 Milano Cortina Speed Skating 500m was historic in many ways. The entire podium finished below the previous Olympic record of 34.32 seconds. It was the 21-year-old American Jordan Stolz leading the way with a time of 33.77 seconds, for his 2nd gold medal of the 2026 Winter Olympics. After the win, he was surrounded by good wishes and congratulations, but there is one meeting Stolz is yet to take.

“Erich Heiden just came over and congratulated me, checked out my medal, and yeah, it was super nice to see him,” Stolz said. “I think he was really excited that I was able to win too.” Heiden is a fellow Olympic record holder with five Olympic records and one world record. The men’s record for most speed skating gold medals at a single Olympics is 5.

Those were won by Heiden at Lake Placid in 1980. With two wins already secured, the ceiling remains intact. He also joins Heiden as the 2nd man to complete the Olympic 500m-1000m double. As he continues to break records, Stolz has yet to take one meeting: Snoop Dogg.

“Did you also get the chance to talk to Snoop Dogg?” Asked a reporter. “I haven’t talked to him yet, but I assume I will be soon,” Stolz answered with a laugh. Snoop Dogg is Team USA’s honorary coach for the Olympics, being the celebrity cheerleader for the team. He is also providing his expert analysis for NBC’s Olympic coverage. 

Coach Snoop has been pretty active at the games, going skiing, trying out curling, and having a blast while interacting with the athletes. Snoop has already tried out figure skating with a master class from Illia Malinin. So Stolz and Snoop will have something to talk about. Snoop has already publicly praised Stolz. 

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“[Heiden] was telling me, ‘One thing about Jordan, his close is better than his start,’ Snoop said before Stolz’s 1000m win. And then the same thing happened as Stolz roared from behind to win and break the Olympic record.“Gold, baby,” Snoop said. Once again, at the 1500 event, Snoop was cheering with passion, sitting beside Heiden. Stolz still needs Coach Snoop’s support as he will go for gold in the 1500 m event as well. Beyond the cheers from legends and celebrity supporters, those closest to Stolz believe his historic run is only just hitting top gear.

Coach Hails Jordan Stolz as American Phenom Eyes 4 Golds

Jordan Stolz had a rival to topple for the second time in Milano Cortina. He went up against Jenning de Boo. Stolz blasted off the start line but started the race behind. However, by the first corner, Stolz found his footing, finishing 0.11 ahead of De Boo. While that seems to be close, it is the largest gap in a single-race Olympic 500m since 1988. According to his coach, this was the “best 500 Stolz ever skated.”

“It just was phenomenal,” said Bob Corby. “It was a great start, a great opener, and then once he got around the corner, he just turned on the after burners and just burned up the back stretch — and that was part of the plan because we knew that, ‘Jenning is going to be behind you. You can’t see him, and he is going to be coming after you and setting up that last corner … You’ve got to go as hard as you can,’ and he did. He executed it perfectly.”

Now, Stolz will go for his third gold at the 1500m event. “I hope two, I hope gold in the 1500s. We’ll see how the mass start goes. That’s a toss-up, but I hope to,” he said. His career graph since Beijing 2022 has been explosive. As a 17-year-old Olympic debutant, he finished 13th in the 500m and 14th in the 1000m. Today, he is leading the pack. In the 1500 m, he will remain the favourite to get to the top of the podium. The 7-time world champion and the World Cup leader in all three events has been defined as “untouchable” and “unbeatable” by media outlets.