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Bart Swings made no secret of his admiration for the new world all-round champion on Sunday. Swings gave Jordan Stolz all the credit. Our compatriot finished his eleventh World Allround Championship in sixth place.
After three distances, partly due to a strong 1,500 meters (third place), he was less than three seconds away from bronze. In the 10 km he defeated the retiring Norwegian Sverre Lunde Pedersen and eventually finished seventh in 13:06.12. He concluded his World Championship in sixth place with a total of 147.796, thus improving his national record from 2015 (148.299.7). Italian Davide Ghiotto won the longest distance in 12:40.61 (track record).
Jordan Stolz (144.740) took the world title ahead of the Dutch Patrick Roest (145.761), two-time world champion, and the Norwegian Hallgeir Engebraten (147.258).
The world championship for all-rounders has been on the agenda since 1893. It is therefore a desirable prey only for historical reasons, even though the tournament has been held every other year since 2020. The World Distance Championships with its Olympic approach has surpassed the classic event.
Stolz is the fifth American world all-round champion. Eric Heiden, Eric Flaim, Chad Hedrick and Shani Davis preceded him. Now that Stolz has claimed that crown at the age of 19, the comparison with his illustrious predecessor, three-time world champion Heiden (1977, 1978 and 1979), becomes realistic.
In April 2023, after winning three world titles at the World Championship distances in Heerenveen, Stolz started the all-round project. “He is no stranger to ten kilometers. In principle, Jordan controls all distances,” his father Dirk said earlier.
Swings confirmed this on Sunday. “I’ve never seen what he does. He can do everything. I’ve seen Eric Heiden’s images. During his period, all-round racing was still highly regarded. Now skaters are specialists. I have never experienced that versatility.”