American Jordan Stoltz capped off one of the best seasons in speedskating history with a world record victory in the sport's most prestigious event.
Stolz, a 19-year-old from Wisconsin, is the youngest athlete to win the World All-Around Championship since fellow Wisconsin native Eric Heiden won his second of three consecutive titles in 1978.
Combined with his results in Saturday's 500m and 5,000m and Sunday's 1,500m and 10,000m in Inzell, Germany, Stolz is 1.021 points ahead of Dutchman Patrick Roest, a three-time world individual all-around champion. I pulled away.
His points total of 144.740 was the highest in the history of the all-around championship, which officially began in 1893.
Stolz broke his first world record (1000m), skated the fastest time ever at 1500m above sea level, won the 500m, 1000m and 1500m for the second year in a row at the World Championships in February, and won the overall title. He finished the season by winning.
“Interest in this tournament has waned a little bit[in the United States]but I hope we can bring back some of the tradition of American skaters like Eric Heiden and share it with the general public.” Stolz told Dutch broadcaster NOS..
The all-around world will select the best short-distance (500 meters), middle-distance (1,500 meters) and long-distance (5,000 meters and 10,000 meters) skaters.
Stolz, who rarely skates over 1,500 meters, recognized the importance of this event in choosing it over the World Sprint Championships, which will be held Thursday and Friday, also in Inzell.
Stolz would have been the overwhelming favorite in the sprint world, given that he is the second-fastest 500m athlete of all time and holds the world record for both 1000m sprint distances.
Instead, Stolz wants to test himself all-around, favoring long-distance skaters over short-distance skaters. Stolz and Heiden are the only male athletes since World War II to combine an Olympic or world 500 meter title with a world all-around title.
Stolz compared himself to Roest, who is ranked No. 1 all-time on the Adels Calendar, a skating ranking based on personal best times in the 500 meters, 1,500 meters, 5,000 meters and 10,000 meters.
Stolz started the season without being registered in the Adels Calendar rankings, as he had never skied 10,000 meters before.
After making his 10,000m debut in January, he was ranked fourth in the all-around world on the Adels Calendar list, behind Roest and two recently retired legends, American Shani Davis and Dutchman Sven Kramer. Has entered.
Stolz overtook Roest by less than a second in the second 10,000-meter, 13-minute race of his career on Sunday, finishing second in the world championships on the Adelscalendar list.
“All that's left is to win the world sprint,” Stolz said. “If I do that, I'll become the third American (after Heiden and Davis) to win every round and sprint.”
