In the men's 1,500m speed skating final at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium on February 19, China's Ning Zhongyan won gold in an Olympic-record time of 1:41.98, beating American Jordan Stolz (1:42.75, silver) and Dutch skater Kjeld Nuis (1:42.82, bronze). It was the seventh speed skating Olympic record set at Milano Cortina, a temporary venue converted from a trade fair center that has produced unexpectedly fast times.
Ning, 26, had previously won bronze medals in the 1,000m and team pursuit at these Games. He skated in the 12th of 15 pairs, going head-to-head against Nuis in the same heat. Ning posted aggressive early splits and built a lead that held. Stolz, skating in the final pair, fell behind the pace early — sitting fifth at 300m — and despite the fastest final lap among medalists (27.60 sec), could not close the 0.77-second gap.
Stopping Stolz prevented him from becoming only the second American to win three or more gold medals in any sport at a single Winter Olympics, a feat last achieved by Eric Heiden (five golds) in 1980. Stolz had won gold and set Olympic records in both the 500m and 1,000m at these Games.
Ning reflected on the race with evident disbelief, crediting Stolz's dominance throughout the season as a motivating force: 'Because of him we trained even harder, trying to surpass him.' Stolz said he was happy for Ning and acknowledged he simply didn't have his best race.