Winter Olympics: Jordan Stolz second in his bid for historic gold medal

MILAN — Jordan Stolz missed out on his bid to become the first man to sweep the 500, 1,000 and 1,500-meter speed skating gold medals, finishing second behind China’s Zhongyan Ning’s Olympic record in the 1,500 final at the Milano Speed Skating Arena Thursday night.

Stolz, who earlier in the Games won the 500 and 1,000, was seeking to become the first man to sweep the Games’ three shortest distances since American Eric Heiden at the 1980 Olympics in Lake Placid, where he won all five individual races. Norway’s Johann Olav Koss swept the 1,500, 5,000 and 10,000 at the 1994 Games in Lillehammer.

Ning skating in the 13th of pairings finished in 1 minute, 41.98 seconds. Two pairings later, Stolz lined up against Norway’s Peder Kongshaug.

Stolz was behind Ning’s pace the whole race, down 1.35 seconds with a 400-meter lap to go. Stolz threw in a surge down the final backstretch, but it was not enough, finishing in 1:42.77 for the silver medal.