Jordan Stolz (USA) is so far unstoppable in Heerenveen. After becoming the youngest ever World Single Distance champion in the 500m on Friday, the 18-year-old added the 1000m title to his tally at Thialf Stadium on Saturday. Olympic Champion Thomas Krol (NED) had to settle for silver, while Cornelius Kersten claimed Great Britain’s first international speed skating silverware since 1951 with bronze. More history was made by European and Olympic Champion Bart Swings (BEL), who became Belgium’s first-ever World Champion by winning the Men’s Mass Start to complete his list of honors.
Jordan Stolz is now a double World Champion after winning the 1000m in Heerenveen @ISU
Stolz faced this season’s World Cup winner Hein Otterspeer (NED) in the final pairing. The American started in the outer lane and caught his Dutch rival entering the corner before powering away.
He finished 0.02 short of Pavel Kulizhnikov’s 2020 track record in 1:07.11, beating Krol by 0.67. Otterspeer finished 1.20 adrift to take sixth place.
“I think it was almost perfect,” Stolz said. “Like 99 percent, maybe there's one thing that could have been done better. On the backstretch, I kind of went a little wide after entering the draft [behind Otterspeer], and I chased him a little bit.”
Stolz powered home to take gold, finishing just two hundreths of a second off the track record @ISU
After having won the 500m title on Friday, all eyes were on Stolz, but the youngster kept his cool. He explained:
“I'm thinking through all the things making sure everything's good. Obviously, if there's other things that I can't control, I’m definitely not going to be thinking about those things, like the crowd and ice conditions. I just worry about the things that I control.”
Silver medalist Krol was pleased with his performance after a difficult year:
“I’m happy to be back at the highest level, to be able to fight for the highest spots. And tomorrow [in the 1500m] we’ll see. I’m going to do my utmost and Jordan will have to show it yet again too.”
Thomas Krol secured 1000m silver on home ice in Heerenveen @ISU
A Great day for Britain
Kersten (GBR) started in the fourth of twelve pairings and stopped the clock at 1:08.02. He said:
“When I saw my time, I thought that’s three hundredths too slow for a 1:07-something. But then I saw that Kjeld (Nuis, NED) didn’t make it and I thought, wow, this might become a good one.”
And a good one it was indeed. Apart from Olympic Champion Thomas Krol, who set 1:07.78 in the tenth pairing, no one else was able to break Kersten’s mark.
Cornelius Kersten celebrates a first-ever Worlds bronze for Great Britain @ISU
Kersten was the first British speed skater to win a World Single Distance Championships medal and the first to win any speed skating medal for his country since Johnny Cronshey’s silver at the World Allround Championships in 1951.
“I hadn’t expected it, certainly not after this season. This is great. You have to skate top-8 or top-4 to get funding, so this is very good news for Team Great Britain.”
Belgian history for Bart
Bart Swings completed his list of Mass Start honors, adding the World title to his Olympic and European titles as well as five World Cup trophies. He is the first Belgian speed skater ever to be crowned World Champion.
“This was the last box to tick and I’m happy with the way I could finish it off,” the Belgian skater said.
Bart Swings crosses the line to be crowned Belgium's first speed skating World Champion @ISU
After a smooth race, Swings decided to start initiate his final jump at 700m from the line already. He explained:
“It wasn’t easy. Attacking at 700m is something I haven’t done in a long time. It’s always a bit of a gamble to attack first, but there’s not many guys who can go full gas for 700m.”
Swings (left) now holds European, World and Olympic Mass Start titles @ISU
Bart Hoolwerf (NED) finished second and indeed wasn’t able to keep up with Swings in the final two laps. He said:
“I was in the right spot but I had a little mis-stroke entering the final lap and there was a little gap. I tried to catch up but skated too hasty and when we entered the final straight, the gap was too big.
Bart Hoolwerf celebrates silver in front of the home fans in Heerenveen @ISU
“I’ve got a lot of respect for Bart Swings, the way he wins today and very often, he is an example for me.”
Andrea Giovannini (ITA) finished third, taking his career first World Championships medal.
“It’s what I wanted my whole career and It's a dream come true,” he said.
Andrea Giovannini described his Mass Start bronze as a dream come true @ISU
Program
The World Single Distance Championships start with the 3000m for Women, the 5000m for Men and the Team Sprint events for both genders on Thursday. On the following two days the program is similar for both genders. Friday features the Team Pursuit and the 500m, and Saturday starts with the Mass Start semi-finals, followed by the 1000m, to conclude with the Mass Start finals. On Sunday both genders will contest the 1500m gold, before the event closes off with the 10,000m for men and the 5000m for women.
Where to Watch
Viewers will be able to watch the races via their national broadcasters’ channel. For countries where there are no broadcasters, the ISU will offer a live stream on the Skating ISU YouTube Channel. You will find the full list on the Where to Watch webpage.
Subscribe to the ISU Newsletter to receive the latest information about events, and to the Skating ISU YouTube Channel to receive notifications when live streams start or new videos are published.
For further information on the ISU World Speed Skating Championships, visit the event webpage here.
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