Jordan Stolz pictured this moment most of his life, ever since he was 5 and learning to skate on a frozen pond in his Wisconsin backyard after falling in love with speedskating while watching the 2010 Winter Olympics on TV — and hoping to one day step atop the podium himself.
So what was the little hassle of a 10-plus-minute wait to make sure this first speedskating gold medal officially would be his Wednesday? Especially because, as Stolz would say later, “I didn’t think anybody was going to beat that time.”
Stolz needed to hold off on a celebratory lap with a U.S. flag until another competitor got the chance for a re-skate, then soon enough was able to smile while leaning forward to receive his gold for winning the men’s 1,000 meters at the Milan Cortina Games in an Olympic-record time thanks to a blistering closing stretch.