MILWAUKEE — With track records in his first two Olympic Trials races, Jordan Stolz's takeover of American long track speedskating is underway.

For many of America’s best winter athletes, Olympic dreams were born on a small frozen pond. Speedskating phenom Jordan Stolz’s athletic journey began on his family’s property on a February afternoon in 2010.

Jordan and his sister Hannah Stolz were watching the Vancouver Games, dazzled by Apolo Ohno in his final Olympic appearance for Team USA. The siblings immediately wanted to try their new favorite sport.

“They were both begging to go,” their mother, Jane Stolz, recalled.

By the time the 2010 games wrapped up, Dirk Stolz had cleared a space on the frozen pond by attaching a plow to an ATV.

“I went and got the hockey skates and made the short track and started skating,” he said. "That got them all fired up.”

Within months, the Stolzes were making multiple trips to the Pettit National Ice Center with 5-year-old Jordan and 7-year-old Hannah. Jordan Stolz soon started competing, then he started winning, and he hasn’t stopped. Jane Stolz stopped framing her son’s medals because she couldn’t keep up with his immense collection of national championships.

Jordan Stolz’s greatness comes with sacrifices. To maximize training time, his parents have homeschooled him since he was nine. Dirk Stolz works overnights as a Washington County sheriff’s deputy while Jane Stolz, a dental hygienist, works during the day so they can split up driving duties on 80-mile round trips to Milwaukee 6 days per week. It’s a ton of time and a ton of travel, but Jane Stolz caught a glimpse of her family’s future at the 2018 Olympic Trials in Milwaukee.

“I was sitting behind a couple athletes’ parents, and they were crying when their son made it and their daughter made it,” she said. “Oh, I almost cried. My kids were like, ‘What!?’ I was like, ‘It could be you next time!’”

And Mom was right. Fans and outside media are not allowed inside the Pettit for the 2022 Olympic Trials. As event volunteers, Dirk and Jane Stolz are among the few parents able to watch the trials in person. The couple had made thousands of trips to Milwaukee for speedskating, perhaps none as memorable as their son's dominant performances in this echoey arena.

In his Olympic Trials debut, Jordan Stolz set a new track record of 1:07.62 in the 1000-meter heat, beating the Pettit Center mark set by one of his heroes and mentors, four-time Olympic medalist Shani Davis, in 2005. He followed with another record-breaking skate Friday, finishing 500 meters in 34.56 seconds.

Twelve years after lacing up for the first time, Jordan Stolz can call himself a United States Olympian. 

“I’m just happy that all the work I’ve put in over the years growing up has paid off right now with the Olympics,” Jordan Stolz said after Thursday's race. “I’m just looking forward to what comes next right now. It’s just a good experience and a good feeling.”

Jordan Stolz concludes his breakout weekend with Sunday’s mass start, a 16-lap race with 16 skaters on the oval.

At just 17, Stolz still has years to go until he reaches the prime age in this sport. Speedskating’s "Next Big Thing" is here and —  once again —  he's from Wisconsin.