The year 2023 is ending. In the traditional year-end series, 11 athletes and one coach look back on an eventful year. Today it’s skater Jordan Stolz.
When the three-time world champion returned to Thialf, Jordan Stolz was standing in midfield with cheese on his head. “He must have thought: Where did I end up?”
Stolz won gold medals in the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters at the World Championships in March. A skating sensation who is only 18 years old. Coach Jillert Anema fell “a little bit” in love, as Marijke Groenewoud describes it, and brought Stolz to the AH-Zaanlander advertising team.
This collaboration started with a photo shoot for the sponsor in mid-summer. Hence cheese. “I’ve never done anything like this before,” admits Stolz, moving somewhat awkwardly among photographers and camera crews.
Placing a young man from the USA alone in a hotel room in Friesland for weeks did not seem like a good idea to Anema. The skater’s father, Tjerk de Boer, had a solution. “Jillert was looking for an apartment and we had a place on the farm,” says Tjerk, who has never shaken Stolz’s hand before.
“I first spoke to him when Jillert picked him up from Schiphol. I was especially impressed by the size of her legs.
“You can’t say no to Messi either”
The announcement of Stolz’s arrival a few months ago was equally notable for De Boer. “When Jillert shared this in the app group, some people thought it was a joke. “I watched him with great admiration at the World Cup.”
“Suddenly he becomes your teammate. I think this makes every skater’s heart beat faster. You can’t say no to Lionel Messi either.”
The ice skating phenom spent several weeks in August at the De Boer family farm in Weidum, a village south of Leeuwarden. “I thought he was quite shy and quiet, and that’s how he seemed in interviews. You think you have an image based on that, but it was the exact opposite,” says De Boer.
“Jordan loves to have fun and smiles a lot. He enjoyed sitting at the kitchen table with us and was never withdrawn. We really see him as a friend at home now.
“He also went to the village festival with us. Everyone was excited. People are like, ‘Is this Jordan’s pride?’ You saw him thinking. “You experience everything with it.”
Help out on the farm
Stolz looked beyond just training. “He wanted to work on the farm. “When I went to help the cows, he would come to me wearing overalls and boots.”
“But shoveling shit is not for me,” Stolz admits.
“Helping the cows wasn’t much fun, but it was nice to be able to stay with such good people. We really had a lot of fun. “I would definitely like to come again next year.”
“But Tjerk probably wouldn’t be too happy if I broke his car. Did he tell you that?”
De Boer: “Jordan already had a driver’s license but was only driving an automatic transmission. I taught him how to shift gears and we practiced this in our garden. “I found driving on the road quite exciting.”
The car stopped in the middle of an intersection. “I didn’t know when to switch to two or three,” Stolz explains. De Boer: “He was unaware of his own power. “I said, ‘You push it, I’ll steer it.’”
Proud: “Tjerk laughed. I couldn’t hear when I could stop. “I had to push for a long time to find parking.” The car was able to be repaired in the workshop. “Yeah, it was a good workout.”
Whether moving behind or in front of his car on the ice, De Boer was more proud than ever these summer weeks. “It was a great opportunity to pursue him. Watch what he does, feel where he accelerates.
“Sometimes you forget how young he is.”
“Their turnaround is very fast. He takes two steps and you’re a few feet away. What do you want from the world sprint champion? But sometimes you forget how young he is. “When you look at it, you don’t believe it.” only nineteen years old.
The skating world looks at Stolz with expectation. Everything he touches turns to gold. Pride cannot be distracted from this. No matter how many eyes are on him, he still looks back stoically.
“Others may have expectations from me, but I do my best. “Some people think I’ll win every race I enter, but it doesn’t work that way.”
“Three world championships did not change me”
De Boer: “Jordan listens to his feelings a lot. If he thinks, “I can do something with this,” he tackles the issue. But if he thinks: This adds nothing, then he won’t do it. “He’s making his own plan.”
Three world championships did not change Stolz’s attitude, approach and goals. “I want to get better, train hard, win matches and win championships. This was my dream when I was young. Am I living my dream? Yes a little.”
Starting from Thursday, Dutch skaters will be able to qualify for the NK distances at this winter championships. And of course, national titles are also at stake. Check out the program below:
Source: NOS
I’m George Gonzalez, a professional journalist and author at The Nation View. With more than 5 years of experience in the field, I specialize in covering sports news for various print media outlets. My passion for writing has enabled me to craft stories that capture the attention of readers all over the world.
