Jordan Stolz (USA) needs an extra suitcase to carry all the track record plaques he’s won over the last two weekends. After setting three track records in Heerenveen last week, the unstoppable American crushed two more at the ISU World Cup in Hamar on Friday night. After taking Dutchman Jenning de Boo’s 500m mark, he went on to erase Shani Davis’ (USA) 2009 rink record in the 1500m by 0.11s.

Stolz hauls Hamar record below 34s

Stolz faced De Boo in the eighth of 10 pairings. Last season the Dutchman had beaten his American rival by 0.11s to win the World title in a then track record time of 34.24s.

On Friday, De Boo managed to beat his own track mark by 0.03s, but Stolz was 0.24s faster to bring the Hamar rink record down to 33.97s. 

Jordan Stolz (USA) became the first skater to break 34 seconds for the 500m at the Hamar Olympic Hall Vikingskipet. © ISU

“Too many plaques to fit in my suitcase,” Stolz joked when he entered the mixed zone to speak with journalists. 

“I need to have my mom bring them home.”

De Boo was a bit frustrated after the race. 

"Both of us are faster than anyone’s ever been [on this track], and then my time pales into insignificance because [Stolz] does unbelievable things and that does bother me a bit," the Dutchman admitted.

“On one hand, I’m really happy with my races and that’s what my coaches also tell me. On the other hand there’s this little voice in my head that says: ‘You’re the first loser’, and then my coaches are the counter voice telling me that I also skate faster than my own track record, which means that I’m better than I was when I was at my peak last year.

“That tells me something about my shape right now, while actually my shape even shouldn’t be peaking.”

Despite Stolz’s record-breaking streak, De Boo still thinks the American is beatable.

“Yes, I do have that conviction. If I’d skated my perfect race here and he’d beaten me by two tenths, I would have lost hope. But my race wasn’t perfect, it was good but far from perfect. I have to work on my start. Jordan is faster from the line, so I just need to react faster.”

Stolz had a little chat with De Boo after their race.

“He thought it was really quick, he beat his own track record from last year at the World Championships. I think both times are really quick.”

500m track record holder Jenning de Boo (NED, left) bettered his rink record but had to settle for silver. Damian Zurek (POL, right) shook off recent injuries to take bronze. © ISU

Damian Zurek (POL) was also quick, but was still another 0.21s slower than De Boo to take bronze in 34.42s.

“I’m super happy to be back after the injury I sustained in Calgary, where I strained a groin muscle,” Zurek said.

“In Heerenveen [last week], I could only skate at 80 percent [which got him into 11th place], and now here in Hamar I feel better. The groin is improving and I’m back on the podium.”

Joep Wennemars (NED) quit his race straight after the starting gun fired because of a groin injury he sustained last week. He appeared at the start to protect his World Cup ranking and collected 21 points for last place to take 18th place in the ranking after four events, securing the maximum of three Olympic quota places in the 500m for the Netherlands.

Mentor Davis loses track record to ex-student Stolz

When Jordan Stolz was still a junior, American skating legend Shani Davis was his coach for a little while and the two have a special bond. At the start of his 1500m race on Friday, Stolz was aware of the long-standing Track Record Davis set at the Vikingskipet in 2009. 

“I was hoping that, if it was possible, he would be able to get to keep his track record,” Stolz said. “I think it'd be really cool if he kept that one. It was a really fast time for 16 years ago.”

Stolz didn’t manage to stay away from Davis’ time of 1 minute and 44.27s, however. With 1:44.16, he was 0.11s faster.

“Couldn’t leave my track record alone, huh,” was the text message he got from his mentor after the race.  

Stolz recovers after breaking his former coach Shani Davis' long-standing track record in the 1500m. © ISU

Kjeld Nuis (NED) finished second in 1:44.95. The Dutch Olympic Champion was content with his performance.

“[Stolz] seems to be unbeatable, and 0.70s is a gap, but it’s bridgeable in the 1500m. It’s not like the gap in last week’s 1000m [when Stolz won by a 1.04s margin], that’s impossible. This feels like a little more than being best of the rest to me, it gives me a lot of confidence,” said Nuis.

Kjeld Nuis (NED, left) took silver and thinks the gap to Stolz in the 1500m is bridgeable. Ning Zhongyan (CHN, right) took the bronze. © ISU

Stolz was confident too as the Olympics draws ever closer. “[Nuis] is doing well and if I have a bad one at the Games he could be close. But I think if I have a good one, the gap will probably be seven tenths. Hopefully we’ll both do well at the Games.”

With his fourth win in four races, Stolz retained the lead in the World Cup ahead of Nuis and Ning Zhongyan (CHN), who took bronze in 1:45.11 on Friday.

Olympic qualification

The first four World Cups serve as Olympic qualification events. Speed skaters will earn quotas for their National Olympic Committees through the Special Olympic Qualification Classifications (SOQCS). Quotas will be allocated based on the SOQC Points ranking (based on points achieved at specific World Cup events) and the SOQC Times ranking (based on the best times per athlete achieved at specific World Cup events).

The maximum amount of quota places per NOC is nine skaters per gender. The quota places are determined by the SOQCS, and allocated to NOCs, not to individual skaters. There’s also a maximum amount of quota places per NOC in each distance at the Olympic Games.

For details on Olympic Qualification, click here