While most U.S. skaters come from other sports – maybe hockey, inline skating, or short track, Jordan Stolz has been all about long-track speed skating since he was five years old. In fact, when he was only six, coach Jeff Brand asked him if he wanted to be a national champion. Without hesitation, Stolz said yes. Fast forward 13 years, and that confidence looks pretty spot-on.

At the 2023 World Single Distances Speed Skating Championships, he won the 500 meters, becoming the youngest single-distance world champion ever. Now, with the 2026 Winter Olympics set for February 6 through 22 in Milano Cortina, the 21-year-old, who made his Olympic debut in Beijing in 2022 with a win, has a shot at becoming only the second American to take home three or more gold medals at a single Winter Games.

But beyond the medals and the spotlight, there’s more to his story, especially when it comes to the family behind him.

Who are Jordan Stolz’s parents?

Jordan Stolz comes from a grounded, hardworking family. His father, Dirk Stolz, is a police officer originally from Germany, while his mother, Jane Stolz, works as a dental hygienist.

Does Jordan Stolz have siblings?

Jordan Stolz isn’t an only child. He has an older sister, Hannah Stolz, and the two clearly share a close bond. Back in 2022, he even told a sweet story about something they did together that shows a softer side away from the ice.

He remembered rescuing a long-haired mixed feral cat named Silver on a freezing night when temperatures dipped to around -10 degrees. The siblings followed tiny footprints in the snow that led into a brush pile, jumped in, and carefully caught her with a fishing net. These days, Silver is part of the family, giving head butts for attention and sleeping nearly 20 hours a day.

What is Jordan Stolz’s parents’ ethnicity and nationality?

While not much is publicly known about Jordan Stolz’s parents’ ethnicity, his parents are American nationals. However, his father was born in Germany.

How has Jordan Stolz’s family supported his career?

It’s pretty clear Jordan Stolz grew up with a family that backed him all the way. Raised in Kewaskum, Wisconsin, a quiet northwest exurb of Milwaukee, he had that small-town, backyard kind of childhood. And from the very beginning, whatever he wanted to try, his parents were right there behind him.

When Jordan was just five years old, he and his older sister Hannah were glued to the TV watching Apolo Anton Ohno at the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Like a lot of kids do after seeing something magical on screen, they begged their parents to let them try speed skating too.

Conveniently, there was a pond right on the family’s property. So their dad, Dirk, cleared off a simple 30-yard straightaway for them to skate on. “It was fun for them to go crashing into the snowbank,” he said. Before long, that little stretch of ice turned into a full oval, complete with lights so the kids could keep skating even after dark.

Once Jane and Dirk realized this wasn’t just a phase, they started looking for a proper speed skating club. In Wisconsin, long known as the heart of the sport in the U.S., that wasn’t too hard to find. The hobby was quickly turning into something more serious.

Still, like any mom, Jane had her worries. She wasn’t thrilled at first about them skating on the ice all the time. She was always afraid they might fall through. But over time, she got used to it, especially as she saw how much her kids loved the sport.

Eventually, the whole family went all-in. Jordan and Hannah began homeschooling so they could train more. Jane worked the day shift, Dirk worked nights, making sure someone was always free to drive them 45 minutes to the Pettit Center. Competitions even turned into mini-vacations, with hotel stays and water parks mixed in.

As a kid, Jordan wasn’t loud or flashy. He was quiet, the type who kept to himself. One day, he took the iPad into his room and stayed longer than he was supposed to. Since screen time was limited, his dad assumed he was playing games or watching videos.

But when Dirk checked in, he found something totally different. Jordan was replaying the same clip over and over, a video of Russian speed skater Pavel Kulizhnikov setting a 500-meter world record. “He said, ‘I’m trying to figure out how to get the world record,’” Dirk later recalled. Jordan wasn’t even 12 yet.

Fast forward a decade, and that laser focus paid off. Stolz now has a world record of his own, breaking Kulizhnikov’s previous mark in the 1,000 meters in 2024, and he’s built an almost unbreakable grip on men’s speed skating.

If he stays healthy, he could walk away from the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics with four gold medals, putting himself in rare company, with only Eric Heiden ever winning more at a single Winter Games.