by sportswriters Wang Meng, Li Chunyu and Wang Jingyu
BEIJING, Nov. 14 (Xinhua) -- For years, Jordan Stolz was the mountain Ning Zhongyan struggled to climb. The American sensation repeatedly stood between the Chinese speed skater and World Cup gold, earning Ning a playful nickname among Chinese fans as a "silver collector".
Now, after finally getting the better of Stolz at the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, Ning is enjoying a change of scenery - and a change of status.
The 27-year-old made a golden start to the new season on home ice, sweeping the men's 1,000m and 1,500m titles at the season-opening ISU Speed Skating World Cup in Beijing over the weekend.
His 1,000m victory on Friday was particularly sweet. Ning not only claimed his first gold of the season but also broke the track record previously held by Stolz, who opted to skip the Beijing leg.
"I originally thought that winning a medal in the 1,000m would already be a very satisfying result for me. Since it's not my main event, I didn't put too much pressure on myself. I never expected to win gold, let alone break the track record. It was a real surprise and a great boost to my confidence," Ning said.
After the race, he joked: "I'm finally not a 'silver collector' anymore."
The nickname was a playful wordplay among Chinese fans, who had watched Ning repeatedly finish behind Stolz in international competitions. For a long time, the American appeared to have the upper hand, particularly in the 1,000m and 1,500m.
Ning used to describe Stolz on many occasions as a mountain that seemed impossible to cross. Their fortunes eventually turned at the Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics earlier this year, where Stolz claimed gold in the 500m and 1,000m before Ning beat him in the 1,500m to secure China's first Olympic title in the distance.
But rather than dwell on that breakthrough, Ning appears more interested in what their rivalry can bring next.
"To be honest, I did feel a little lonely without him at this World Cup stop. He used to beat me by more than a second, whereas now I'm the one beating others by more than a second. I hope he can return to the World Cup circuit soon so we can compete against each other again," Ning said.
"When he wins, I congratulate him, and when I win, he congratulates me. I think we bring out the best in each other."
Ning clocked around 1:43.64 for his second victory in Beijing in Saturday's 1,500m, comfortably beating his own pre-race expectations of a time in the 1:44 range.
"Overall, I'm quite satisfied with my performance. I think I managed my pace very well in the first two laps, slowing down by only 1.2 seconds. That's an acceptable split for me and already represents a very high level," he said.
"I thought I had a good chance of winning gold before the race, but my time today was still a little unexpected. I thought a time in the 1:44 range would be acceptable, so clocking around 1:43.5 was a pleasant surprise. The only slight disappointment was that I didn't break the track record."
The two victories also reflected a more relaxed approach to competition, which Ning considers one of the biggest changes in his career since the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympics, for which he had high expectations but finished fifth in 1,000m and seventh in 1,500m.
"After the Beijing Winter Olympics, I was driven more by a sense of frustration and a desire to prove myself. But after the Milan Winter Olympics, I've learned to enjoy the present more - to appreciate every competition, every performance and every moment on the ice, and to keep those memories with me," he said.
That change, he believed, has helped him perform better.
"When you put too much pressure on yourself or focus too much on the need to win, you can actually become more nervous," Ning said.
"I recently heard a saying that made me think: those who are afraid of losing get nervous, while those who want to win get excited. I think I'm now approaching competitions with that sense of excitement."
The difference was apparent on Saturday. Having already won the 1,000m, Ning stepped onto the ice with a kind of confidence he had not always felt in the past.
"Winning the 1,000m also gave my confidence a huge boost. When I stepped onto the ice for today's 1,500m race, I felt as if everyone was watching me, almost as though the rink belonged to me. That sense of confidence is quite different from what I had before," he said.
The homecoming made the weekend even more memorable. A native of Heilongjiang Province in northeast China, Ning was particularly happy to have his family in the stands at the National Speed Skating Oval.
"After last season ended, I spent quite a long time at home with my family, so it's wonderful to be together again," he said. "It's also very special to have the first World Cup stop in my hometown. Being able to compete in front of my home crowd makes me very happy."
His coach Johan De Wit also encouraged him to savor the moment after the double triumph.
"My coach told me that winning two gold medals during a weekend in my hometown made it a wonderful weekend. He told me to enjoy the moment," Ning said.
Yet the Olympic champion knows that two victories at the start of a season do not guarantee anything in the months ahead. For him, the greater challenge is not reaching the top but staying there.
"Winning a championship once may be relatively easy, but staying at the top consistently is extremely challenging. You have to be 100 percent focused on training every single day," he said.
"Of course, I can feel more skaters chasing me now. Just as I was chasing Jordan before, I can now clearly feel the kind of pressure he must have experienced back then."
Ning is already looking beyond the opening World Cup, with the ISU World Speed Skating Championships scheduled to take place at the same Beijing venue in February 2027.
"My main focus this season is still the World Championships. I hope to make further improvements in the details of my performance," he said.
"I don't want to get carried away just because I've won gold in the first competition. I still need to keep an eye on the overall competitive landscape and pay attention to the top skaters from other countries. I mustn't become complacent. I'll continue to take things steadily, one step at a time."
Having spent years trying to climb the mountain represented by Stolz, Ning has now reached a position where others are looking up at him. His two gold medals in Beijing suggest he is relishing the view, but he knows that staying at the summit will require just as much work as getting there. ■
