Kjeld Nuis secured a bronze medal in the 1500 meter speed skating event, marking his last Olympic race in this distance. Ning Zhongyan took gold with an Olympic record time, while Jordan Stolz earned silver in a closely contested competition.
NOS Schaatsen, Netherlands
The 36-year-old Dutch skater Kjeld Nuis competed in Milan for his final Olympic 1500 meter race, finishing third with a time of 1:42.82. He raced directly against Ning Zhongyan, the unexpected winner who set an Olympic record of 1:41.98. Jordan Stolz of the United States, the pre-race favorite, narrowly surpassed Nuis with a time just 0.07 seconds faster to claim the silver medal. Joep Wennemars, another Dutch competitor, finished just off the podium in fourth place.
Nuis’s bronze medal completes his Olympic career at the 1500 meter distance, where he is the most successful male skater with three Olympic medals. He won gold in the 1500 meter in both the 2018 and 2022 Olympics, as well as gold in the 1000 meter in 2018. Despite coming close on the 1500 meter, Joep Wennemars faced disappointment after narrowly missing a medal by 0.23 seconds, following interference suffered in the earlier 1000 meter event. Tijmen Snel, the third Dutch athlete in the event, finished in eleventh place with a time of 1:45.51.
Jordan Stolz, who entered the event as the favorite, collected his third medal at the Milan games after winning the 500 meter and 1000 meter events. He is also scheduled to compete in the mass start on Saturday. Wennemars had earlier set a new Olympic record of 1:43.05 during the eleventh heat of the day, highlighted by a strong opening lap of 23.12 seconds. However, this record was soon surpassed during the thrilling race between Nuis and Ning, where both skaters pushed speeds that opened laps in under 23 seconds.
During the race, Nuis and Ning pushed the pace aggressively, with Nuis posting a first full lap of 24.77 seconds. Ning managed to keep pace and then extended his lead slightly in the following lap, gaining an advantage of 0.5 seconds. In the final lap, Ning held off the physically taxed Nuis to secure the victory and set the new Olympic record. Stolz, who had been slower earlier, managed to climb to the podium position in the last lap, finishing only marginally faster than the Dutch skaters.
Ning made history as the first Chinese skater to win the Olympic 1500 meter title. The speed skating events will continue with the women’s 1500 meter on Friday, followed by the mass start races concluding the Olympic speed skating schedule on Saturday.
