As Jordan Stolz hung in the pack of speedskaters, the distance between them and two daring breakaway skaters stretching further and further, Stolz found himself sort of fighting with himself. The mass sprint is as much about strategy as it is in skating and Jorrit Bergsma of the Netherlands and Viktor Hald Thorup of Denmark essentially out-strategized everyone else. Stolz, left to fight for bronze, got passed in the final meters, finishing fourth by .09 to Andrea Giovannini of Italy. “It was kind of depressing actually,’’ Stolz said of the groupthink race strategy that didn’t pay off. For Stolz, it was a frustrating finish to an otherwise great Olympics, but mass start is not necessarily his thing.

Source: CNN February 21, 2026 21:07 UTC