#SpeedSkating

Hachinohe City was treated to two renditions of The Star-Spangled Banner on Friday, with Austin Kleba, Cooper McLeod and Zach Stoppelmoor (USA) winning the men’s Team Sprint and Jordan Stolz (USA) crushing the track record to seize the 1500m title on the first day of the ISU Four Continents Championships. 

USA picks up where they left off

Team USA faced reigning Four Continents Champions Canada in the second pairing of the Team Sprint in the YS Arena. Despite their number-one skater Austin Kleba starting a little slower than Canada’s Anders Johnson (CAN), the Americans came out on top after Cooper McLeod and Zach Stoppelmoor reeled Laurent Dubreuil and Yankun Zhao (CAN) in with strong second and third laps to set a time of 1 minute and 19.43s, with Canada 0.89s adrift.

Austin Kleba, Cooper McLeod and Zach Stoppelmoor combined to claim Team Sprint gold for the USA in Hachinohe City © ISU

The American team admitted they hadn’t practiced much for the Team Sprint.

“We just did a start yesterday in practice, and then we warmed up today together, and that’s really it,” said Kleba. 

After taking gold in last year’s overall Team Sprint World Cup, Stoppelmoor was happy to maintain winning ways.

“It's nice to pick back up where things were at last year, so we just hope to build on it. We're hoping to repeat it at World Cups,” he said.

China squeezed in between the North American neighbors on the podium, beating Korea in the final pairing to take silver in a time of 1:19.78.

China took Team Sprint silver, splitting the North American neighbours to push reigning Four Continents Champions China into third © ISU

Despite not being able to retain the title, Dubreuil was happy with Canada’s bronze after some changes in the line-up. Whereas last season Vincent de Haître and Antoine Gélinas-Beaulieu (CAN) often joined Dubreuil in the Team Sprint, this time Johnson took first lap duty, while Zhao finished it off in the third lap. 

“It was a brand new team for us, three sprinter-type skaters, two younger guys, so it's kind of building,” said Dubreuil.

“It’s a strong start to what we hope will be a good team in the few next few competitions."

Although they didn’t practice a lot, Dubreuil had no concerns about the risky slingshot change-up.

“The execution is always going to be good,” he said.

“We all grew up skating short-track, so we’re used to following each other, and the slingshot, you don't see the World Cups [short track], but you see it when skaters are young and they make mistakes. Normally you get in and you push, but if you're late, you grab the skater and you sling, so it's something which comes kind of natural.”

Stolz defies jet lag to claim gold

Jordan Stolz flew from Milwaukee to Hachinohe City last Monday, but despite the short time to absorb a 15-hour time gap, he managed to crush the YS Arena track record of 1:45.57, set by Kazuya Yamada (JPN) in 2022, by more than a second in one minute and 44.45s.

Jordan Stolz (USA) shrugged off a 15-hour jet lag to win 1500m gold and slash a full second off the YS Arena track record © ISU

“I felt pretty good,” he said. “I don't know how much [the jet lag] affected me, but I would guess it's a little bit substantial, since I've only been on ice for two days. But I felt pretty good, except, I don't know if it was the jet lag, but something was making me feel a little light-headed after the race. So it hurt pretty bad.”

Despite the short time to adapt and familiarize with the YS Arena, Stolz had a glance at the track record before he started on Friday. 

“I think it was like a 1:45 or something… I had calculated some times earlier, and I thought I would go around the 1:44.7, so I went a little bit faster,” he concluded with a smile.

After having won three World Single Distance titles for the second year in a row and adding the World Allround title in Inzell last year, Stolz is looking for new challenges this season.

“I would like to do well in the overall point system at the end of the World Cup and see what I can do in that, although it’s not as prestigious [as the World Allround title].”

Stolz said he didn’t want to skip any World Cup events like last year: “This year should be different, and hopefully I can also defend my three titles at the end of the year to keep a good lead into the Olympics [in 2026].”

One of Stolz’ main contenders in the 1500m is Ning Zhongyan (CHN), but the Chinese ace finished over a second behind the American in 1:45.84, with Taiyo Nonomura (JPN) coming third in 1:46.01.

Jordan's blistering time left Ning Zhongyan (CHN) more than a second behind in silver, with Taiyo Nonomura (JPN) picking up the bronze © ISU

Despite the big gap with Stolz, Ning was happy with his performance.

“It was a good race today, because this was my first time to race in the season," he said.

“[Stolz] is amazing, so strong. I want to keep progressing towards Jordan, I hope I can.” 

Ning hopes to be able to grab another medal at the World Single Distance Championships after last year’s 1000m silver, and has also set his eyes on the Asian Winter Games in his home town of Harbin in February.

ISU Four Continents Championships Program

The ISU Four Continents tournament starts with the Team Sprint followed by the 1500m for both genders on Friday. The Saturday program features the 500m for both genders, the women’s 3000m and the men’s 5000m, and on Sunday both genders will compete in the Team Pursuit and 1000m before the Championships close off with the Mass Start. 

Schedule & Where to Watch:

• Friday, November 15 - 14:00-16:22: Team Sprint Women Team Sprint Men 1500m Women 1500m Men
• Saturday, November 16 - 14:00 -17:27: 500m Women  500m Men 3000m Women  5000m Men
• Sunday, November 17 - 14:00-17:15: Team Pursuit Women Team Pursuit Men  1000m Women  1000m Men  Mass Start Women Mass Start Men

Where to Watch

For schedules and results of the ISU Four Continents Speed Skating Championships, please visit the event’s webpage.