The risk for flu in Milwaukee is very high, so Wisconsin native Jordan Stolz must avoid getting sick ahead of the Olympics at this weekend’s trials.
Jordan Stolz needs to do everything he can to get out of here ... healthy.
Yes, welcome to Milwaukee, in the dead of winter, right after the holidays, where we begin our new season: You’re either sick, a little bit sick, think you’re getting sick, or just getting over being sick.
That’s the case with Jordan Stolz actually, right now (just a little bit sick) and his coach, Bob Corby (not feeling fantastic at all), and the fact that the state of Wisconsin went from a moderate to high risk area for the latest flu strain in the past week.
It means Stolz has to change his approach to the U.S. Olympic Team Trials this weekend at the Pettit National Ice Center.
The Wisconsin Department of Health Services said the risk in our area for the flu is “very high.” COVID-19 and RSV are also increasing, it reports.
So, Stolz will not be signing autographs or taking photos with fans.
This is not really his choice, but rather due to experience.
When Stolz last skated here a year ago, when Milwaukee hosted a World Cup event, he stayed behind after his races and signed hundreds of autographs and greeted hundreds more fans personally, off the ice, in the hallways and even coming to and from the rink.
The 21-year-old from Kewaskum grew up skating at the Pettit National Ice Center and thoroughly enjoyed his first real home crowd experience for a big event.
What happened next was a lesson learned.
Stolz picked up not only strep throat but also pneumonia from the Milwaukee World Cup and it was the first – and only – time in the past three and a half years he didn’t dominate in the skating world. It probably cost him a three-peat at the World Championships in three events.
It meant in January and February 2025, Stolz was very sick for a few weeks, but still made a stunning comeback, still finishing on the podium. He didn’t get gold medals in his Poland World Cup events and the World Championships after getting ill in Milwaukee. But he did still skate to silver and bronze.
Obviously, his goal is gold at the Milano-Cortina Winter Olympics.
“We learned a lesson last year,” Jordan's father, Dirk Stolz, said Jan. 2, a day before Stolz was set to begin racing. "It ended up affecting him a lot in the World Championships."
The problem isn't just that the Olympics start Feb. 6 and that Stolz will head to Italy soon. The problem is that it affects all the training Stolz has scheduled between now and then. He hasn't peaked yet and needs that training to continue.
U.S. Speedskating spokeswoman Alysha Rummler said she's noticed a lot of skaters taking precautions this weekend. Some are bringing masks. Some will even avoid their families from now until the Olympics, almost like social distancing, she said. Others are using hand sanitizer throughout the skating rink. Others will just skate and head straight back to the hotel.
She emphasized that avoiding respiratory illnesses, especially pneumonia, is on all the athletes' minds.
"This year, sorry to say, he's not coming out into the crowd," Dirk Stolz said. "He's going to stay with the athletes and protect himself from any kind of sickness because obviously it's an important year.
"And with the races being so close, you're within a fraction of a second. So any kind of sickness like that could take you down to 10th place in a hurry. It makes a huge difference being healthy − and obviously, no injuries."
Stolz’s skating career has been affected by stuff like this. A lot of his junior races were canceled and never rescheduled during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 and 2021.
And then Stolz had to contend with the Omicron variant in 2022, when Milwaukee hosted the U.S. Olympic Trials. It was so bad, that race officials had to hold the trials without fans, a major sacrifice not only for the skaters, but also to the Pettit, which uses money from ticket sales of big events to keep running.
Stolz then competed in the Beijing Winter Olympics in 2022, where China had a no-tolerance policy on the spread of the disease. It meant Stolz had to travel there and compete as if on lockdown, without being allowed to go anywhere.
This year? He has one job: Get out of here healthy.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Speed skater Jordan Stolz has one job at U.S. Olympic Trials: stay healthy
Category: General Sports
