HAMAR, Norway, Dec. 13 (Xinhua) -- American sensation Jordan Stolz continued his record-breaking run at the ISU World Cup, claiming the men's 500m and 1,500m gold medals with new track records here on Friday.
The 21-year-old arrived in Hamar fresh off a dominant performance last weekend in Heerenveen, the Netherlands, where he secured golds in the 500m, 1,000m, and 1,500m events, setting three new track records in the process. Continuing his momentum, he finished the first 500m race at the Hamar Olympic Hall in 33.97 seconds in the eighth pair with Dutchman Jenning de Boo, who beat Stolz to win the World Championships on the exact same rink in a then track record time of 34.24s.
"It's too many [track record] plaques to fit in my suitcase," Stolz joked after his victory, as quoted by the ISU official website. "I need to have my mom bring them home."
De Boo also skated faster than his previous mark but settled for silver in 34.21s, with Poland's Damian Zurek sitting third in 34.42s.
In the 1,500m, Stolz again topped the podium, clocking 1:44.16 for his fifth consecutive track record. The silver medal went to three-time Olympic gold medalist Kjeld Nuis of the Netherlands, who finished just 0.79 seconds behind, while China's Ning Zhongyan earned bronze in 1:45.11, marking his back-to-back third-place finishes.
The women's 500m race also saw a new track record, with Femke Kok of the Netherlands setting the bar at 37.05 seconds, slicing 0.20 seconds off the previous record held by Japan's Nao Kodaira since 2019.
"I was super happy to skate a track record, because that was set by Nao and that's a super-good skater," said the Dutchwoman, who remained unbeaten over the distance this season.
Kaja Ziomek-Nogal of Poland took a silver in 37.65s and Japan's Yukino Yoshida bagged a bronze in 37.75s.
In the women's 1,500m, Japan's Olympic champion Miho Takagi claimed her first World Cup gold of the season with a time of 1:54.95. Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Morozova took silver, just 0.03 seconds behind, while Norway's Ragne Wiklund secured bronze, 0.23 seconds off the pace.
The World Cup action in Hamar will continue on Saturday, with gold medals up for grabs in the men's and women's 1,000m, women's 3,000m, and men's 5,000m events.
This World Cup marks a crucial point in the race for Olympic qualification, as the quotas for the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Games will be determined following these competitions. ■
