SPEED SKATING
Japan’s Shinhama snaps USA’s Stolz winning streak on final day of ISU World Cup Milwaukee
03 Feb 2025
#SpeedSkating
Jordan Stolz (USA) had won nine consecutive 500m races and 18 World Cup races in a row in total, but he was not able to maintain that streak in his final race at his home World Cup in Milwaukee on Sunday. In a head-to-head battle with Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN, pictured above), the American finished .05s short of his Japanese rival. Before the 500m race, Casey Dawson, Ethan Cepuran, Emery Lehman (USA) seized gold in the Mass Start, while Jorrit Bergsma (NED) concluded the men’s competition with his first World Cup gold since 2021 in the Mass Start.
Missing ‘a bit of snap’
“It was bound to happen at some point, I got 22 in a row — that’s quite a lot,” Jordan Stolz (USA) said after coming off the ice with a silver medal around his neck.
The USA’s Jordan Stolz said he didn’t ‘have the same explosion’ in Sunday’s 500m. © ISU
The streak of 22 Stolz mentioned is the count of all 500m, 1000m and 1500m races. Last season, the 20-year-old American also skated some occasional 5000m races, however. His 15th-place finish at the 5000m World Cup race on 28 January 2024 in Salt Lake City interrupted the streak of 22, which brings the World Cup winning streak down to a still impressive total of 18 consecutive victories.
“It doesn’t matter too much,” Stolz said about seeing his streak end.
After having skated the 1000m on Friday, followed by the first 500m and the 1500m on Saturday, a little fatigue set in on Sunday.
“I miss a bit of snap, my endurance doesn’t go away, but you just don’t have the same explosion,” Stolz said.
“At the World Championships [in March in Hamar] we will have 500m first, then the 1000m, and then the 1500m, so I’ll be more prepared.”
Tatsuya Shinhama of Japan acknowledges the crowd after his gold-medal performance in Sunday’s men’s 500m at ISU World Cup Milwaukee. © ISU
While Stolz missed a bit of snap, Tatsuya Shinhama (JPN) got off the blocks really well. His 9.55 opener was the joint fastest opener of the field.
Starting in the outer lane, Stolz opened in 9.66s, and he was not able to make up enough time in the last inner corner.
“I went through the opener and Shinhama was obviously going faster than me,” Stolz said. “I saw 9.6, so then I knew I was a little bit tired. The last turn, I didn’t have the best footing.”
Shinhama eventually stopped the clock at 34.14s, with Stolz crossing the line .05s later.
“I was happy to race against Jordan,” Shinhama said. “To be able to beat him on his home ice …”
The 28-year-old Shinhama revealed he was still not at his best, after having recovered from an injury he sustained last season.
“The injury doesn’t bother me anymore, but the sharpness in my movement is not at the level it used to be yet,” he said.
“But I’ve caught up with [Stolz] at the moment, and we will work hard towards World Cup V and VI, and also towards the World Single Distance Championships to get as close as possible.”
Canadian bronze medalist Laurent Dubreuil (above) regretted not being able to take advantage of Jordan Stolz’s imperfect day. © ISU
At .16s behind silver medal winner Stolz, Laurent Dubreuil (CAN) took the 500m bronze, just as he did on Saturday.
He regretted not being the one to take advantage of Stolz’s imperfection on Sunday.
“I had a good start, but I got a bit overexcited in the lap, and started pushing backwards a little bit, so didn’t get quite the lap time I’d hoped,” said Dubreuil.
“Obviously, today was the day to have a perfect race, because as I said [Saturday], you want to be the one to capitalize when Jordan is not necessarily on his best day, but still the field is great, and to get on the podium is hard.”
Jenning de Boo (NED) was the most likely candidate to snap Stolz’s streak after having finished second behind him in the last four World Cup races, but De Boo eventually finished 10th in 34.53s.
Stolz still leads the World Cup ranking with De Boo in second, while Shinhama passed Dubreuil to move into third.
Casey Dawson, Ethan Cepuran and Emery Lehman of the USA celebrate men’s Team Pursuit victory on home-nation track in Milwaukee. © ISU
USA all the way in Team Pursuit Men
Before the 500m race, Casey Dawson, Ethan Cepuran and Emery Lehman (USA) won the Team Pursuit. The American world record holders skated a time of 3 minutes and 38.19s, keeping Word Cup leaders Italy — Davide Ghiotto, Michele Malfatti and Andrea Giovannini — 1.10s behind. Olympic champions Norway — Peder Kongshaug, Sander Eitrem and Hallgeir Engebråten — finished third in 3:39.73.
Team USA had ridden on the waves of an enthusiastic home crowd in the packed Pettit National Ice Center, feeling excited instead of being put under pressure.
“There’s actually a little less pressure, because we have the crowd cheering us on and everything kind of drives us to the finish line,” said Dawson.
These ‘cheesehead’ mascot hats hit home for American gold medalists Emery Lehman, Casey Dawson and Ethan Cepuran (left to right). © ISU
Lehman added: “Ethan and I are from Illinois, so we grew up skating here, and Casey has family from Green Bay [Wisconsin], so it’s like coming home for all three of us. We probably skated more laps here than we have in Salt Lake City, so we have a familiarity with the track.
“I have like 50 people family and friends in the crowd. A lot of people who haven’t seen me skate in person. My grandpa is here and he’s 90, and a lot of aunts and uncles and cousins, friends from high school, college. It’s pretty special.”
As a National Football League fan of the Green Bay Packers, Dawson could appreciate the signature cheeseheads all medal winners got on the podium in Milwaukee.
“My mom’s actually from Wisconsin,” he said. “She moved to Salt Lake City 20-something years ago, but we still have a lot of family and friends out here.”
Age is a mere number for victorious Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands, who at 39 won his first World Cup gold medal in four years. © ISU
Bergsma celebrates 39th birthday with gold
Concluding the men’s competition on Sunday, Jorrit Bergsma (NED) won his first World Cup gold medal since 30 January 2021, when he crossed the line first after the World Cup Mass Start in Heerenveen. One day before the race in Milwaukee, the Dutchman had celebrated his 39th birthday. He was excited to be back on top.
“It’s been a long time coming,” Bergsma said. “It feels very good to win at this level again. It’s an international prize and I’m really happy with it.”
The Milwaukee Mass Start had been exciting from start to finish.
“It was attack after attack, and the speed was very high,” Bergsma said. “Bart [teammate Bart Hoolwerf, NED] pushed in the second attack, making room for me to set up a third attack.”
Men’s Mass Start gold medalist Jorrit Bergsma flanked by Indra Médard of Belgium (silver, on left) and Mathieu Belloir of France (bronze, on right). © ISU
The Dutch veteran managed to escape from the pack together with Indra Médard (BEL), Mathieu Belloir (FRA) and Marcin Bachanek (POL). The Polish skater dropped off and the others didn’t want to do front duty.
“I’m not going to break all the wind for them, so then it becomes a game,” Bergsma said. He eventually made his move at 600m from the finish line and kept his fellow escapees at a distance. Médard finished second and Belloir came in third.
Bergsma said he enjoyed the race dynamics. “There are new guys in the pack who also want to attack, the Germans and the French,” he said. “And the set-up has also changed, with an A Division race and a B Division race [instead of a semi-final and a final], so the intermediate points have become more important. That makes up for great competition.”
World Cup resumes in Poland
With the first four ISU World Cup events in the books, the series resumes with the fifth leg in Tomaszów Mazowiecki on February 21-23. In Poland the Team Sprint competition comes to a conclusion, while all other distances will finish at the last World Cup event from 28 February to 2 March in Heerenveen, the Netherlands.
ISU World Cup Speed Skating Series events 2024/25:
Nov 22 - 24, 2024 Nagano / JPN
Nov 29 - Dec 01, 2024 Beijing / CHN
Jan 24 - 26, 2025 Calgary CAN
Jan 31 - Feb 02, 2025 Milwaukee / USA
Feb 21 - 23, 2025 Tomaszów Mazowiecki / POL
Feb 28 - Mar 02, 2025 Heerenveen / NED
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