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Jordan Sotlz (USA) on the podium at the 2023 ISU World Championships in Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

Post-Olympic years often hand a chance to upcoming talents to make a name for themselves, but hardly ever did a new kid on the block enter the international Speed Skating elite with such brutal force as Jordan Stolz (USA) did last season.

The 18-year-old American won the ISU 2023 World Junior Speed Skating Championships title and also became the first man in the Senior ranks to ever win three individual distances in the history of the ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships. The 2022/23 season was full of historical feats. Here’s a recap.

Stolz equals Heiden 

Many American Speed Skating talents have been compared to the legendary Eric Heiden (USA), who won a historic five gold medals at the 1980 Olympic Winter Games, but none lived up to the expectations. Jordan Stolz (USA) did.

Eric Heiden (USA) competes during the 1980 Olympic Winter Games in Lake Placid (USA) @GettyImages

After entering the season winning his first two World Cup races and setting a 1500m track record in Stavanger (NOR) in November, Stolz crashed in the 1500m at the season’s second ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Heerenveen (NED). 

“Everybody is referring to him as the new Eric Heiden, but he’ll have his setbacks too.”

Olympic Champion Kjeld Nuis (NED) said. Stolz did have his setbacks indeed, but he managed to collect four gold medals and five silvers in individual distances at the ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series and finished the season gloriously at the Junior and Senior ISU World Speed Skating Championships.

Jordan Stolz (USA) celebrates during the 2023 ISU World Championships in Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

Racking up a total of four gold medals and two bronzes, he smashed the Junior’s field in Inzell (GER), and three weeks later he kept up his winning ways at the Senior ISU World Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen (NED). With his 500m title, the 18-year-old American became the youngest Speed Skater (male and female) to win a title at the ISU World Speed Skating Championships, and the third Speed Skater in history to win a Junior and a Senior ISU World title in the same season after Eric Heiden (1977 and 1978) and Beth Heiden (1979).

ISU World Cup Speed Skating winner Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) had to bow his head.

Jordan Stolz (USA) Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) during the ISU World Speed Skating Championships 2023 in Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

“He's unbelievable. It's like trying to beat Michael Jordan or something (…). I feel privileged to go against a skater this good. He's doing things that we would have deemed impossible.”

The Canadian said about Stolz.

After winning the 500m title, Stolz went on to take the 1000m and the 1500m titles too, becoming the first male Skater to ever win three titles in the history of the ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships.

Wiklund queen of Heerenveen

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) was the most decorated Skater in the Women’s competition at the ISU World Speed Skating Championships in Heerenveen (NED). The Norwegian long distance ISU World Cup winner took gold in the 3000m and managed to add silver in both the 1500m and the 5000m.

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) celebrates during the ISU World Speed Skating Championships Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

Triple Olympic Champion Irene Schouten (NED) seized every color at the ISU World Single Distance Speed Skating Championships, winning the 5000m, coming second in the 3000m and finishing third in the Mass Start.

Irene Schouten (NED) celebrates during the ISU World Speed Skating Championship 2023 in Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

British and Belgian history

Behind the indomitable Stolz and Olympic Champion Kjeld Nuis, Cornelius Kersten (GBR) won a bronze medal in the 1500m. The Briton thus became the first Speed Skater to win an ISU World Speed Skating Championships medal for Great Britain, and the first to win a Speed Skating medal since Johnny Cronshey (GBR) who won silver at the World Allround Championships in 1951. Kersten couldn’t quite believe it himself.

Cornelius Kersten (GBR) celebrates during the  2023 ISU World Championships in Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

”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.”

Bart Swings (BEL) had already won the European and the Olympic Mass Start titles, but he completed his trophy cabinet with the World title in Heerenveen, seizing the first ever World Championships gold for Belgium in Speed Skating.

Bart Swings (BEL) reacts during the 2023 ISU World Championships Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

Dutch centennial

Patrick Roest (NED) managed to finally win his career’s first ISU World Single Distance title in the 5000m, bringing home the historic 100^th ISU World Speed Skating gold for the Netherlands.

Femke Kok (NED) also wrote history in Heerenveen. After struggling throughout the season, in which she did not manage to win any individual World Cup silverware, Kok peaked at the right moment on home ice. She became the first Dutch winner of the Women's 500m at the ISU World Single Distances Championships, after claiming silver in 2021.

Femke Kok (NED) celebrates during the 2023 ISU World Championships in Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

The Women’s 500m was the only event in which Dutch Speed Skaters had not yet won a World title.

World Championships statistics

Number of participants: 192 Skaters

Number of countries: 22

Medal count: NED (16), CAN (7), USA (5), ITA (4), JPN (4), NOR (4), AUT (2), CZE (2), BEL (2), GBR (1), CHN (1)

World Cup consistency

After an Olympic title, a World title is the most coveted prize in Speed Skating, but one should not underestimate the importance of the World Cup.

“If you win the World Championship, but you don’t win anything during the year, you can’t really call yourself the best skater in the world right? The best skaters in the world win on a regular basis.”

Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) reacts during the ISU World Cup Speed Skating 2023 in Heerenveen (NED) @ISU

The Canadian did not win the World title, but showed consistency throughout the World Cup season. Winning two World Cup races, taking three silver medals and four bronzes, Dubreuil seized his second consecutive 500m World Cup classification win.

If anyone can call himself the best Skater in the World in a single discipline, it’s Bart Swings. Before taking his World title in Heerenveen, the Belgian had been winning Mass Start races consistently over the past decade. This season he took home his fourth consecutive ISU World Cup trophy and his fifth in total.

Takagi takes two

Consistency was also key for Miho Takagi (JPN) last season. The Japanese Olympic 1000m Champion took home the 1000m and 1500m World Cups, despite the fact that Jutta Leerdam (NED) won five out of six 1000m races. Takagi won three 1500m races, but did not manage to win a single 1000m race.

Ragne Wiklund (NOR) Miho Takagi (JPN) and Marijke Groenewoud (NED) pose during the ISU World Cup in Stavanger (NOR) @ISU

She took advantage when Leerdam decided to skip the fifth ISU World Cup Speed Skating (in preparation of the ISU World Speed Skating Championships) to seize the 1000m World Cup with three silver medals, two bronzes and a fourth place.

Kim Min Sun  (KOR) dropped the ball coming fourth at the ISU World Speed Skating Championships after a near-perfect World Cup season. The Korean won five out of six World Cup races, losing only the last race of the World Cup when she came second behind Vanessa Herzog (AUT).

Four Continents first in Quebec

The third ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships in the history of Speed Skating represented the first ISU event at the brand new Centre de Glaces, since the Gaétan Boucher Oval was covered up with a roof last year.

Centre De Glaces pictured during the ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships 2022 in Quebec City (CAN) @ISU

Canada took home most Four Continents titles, with Laurent Dubreuil winning both the 500m and the 1000m, Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (CAN) taking the 1500m in the Men’s field, and Valérie Maltais (CAN) winning the 3000m and Mass Start titles in the Women’s field. Canada also won the Men’s Team Sprint and Women’s Team Pursuit titles.

Four Continents statistics

Number of participants:  76 Skaters

Number of countries: 7           

Medal count: CAN (14), KOR (13), KAZ ( 7), JPN (4), CHN (4), USA (2)

Netherlands beat Norway at the European Championships

While Jutta Leerdam and Merijn Scheperkamp (NED) ruled the ISU European Sprint Championships in Hamar (NOR), the Allround competition in both the Men’s and Women’s field came down to a close battle between the two classic powerhouses in this segment: Norway and the Netherlands.

Merijn Scheperkamp and Jutta Leerdam(NED) pose during the European Skating Championships in Hamar (NOR) 2023 @ISU

In the Women’s field Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong (NED) took home her third consecutive title. Building a solid lead with distance victories in the 500m and the 1500m, the Dutchwoman kept home favorite Ragne Wiklund at bay at the Vikingskipet rink (NOR).

In the Men’s field Sander Eitrem (NOR) gave Dutch title defender Patrick Roest a run for his money. Forcing Roest into misjudging the crossing at the final back-stretch, Eitrem won the 1500m to take the lead in the classification with a 1.78s advantage over Roest in the final 10,000m. After a battle of attrition, the Norwegian youngster eventually had to bow his head finishing a little over six seconds adrift in the final distance.

European Championships statistics

Number of participants: 82 Skaters

Number of countries: 15

Medal count: NED (7), NOR (2), BEL (1), EST (1), AUT (1)

 

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