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American Jordan Stolz became the youngest world speedskating champion ever as the 18-year-old won gold in the men's 500 meters at the World Single Distance Championships in Heerenveen, Netherlands, on Friday. Stolz crossed the line in 34.10 seconds, winning by 0.36 seconds over defending champion Laurent Dubreuil of Canada and 0.38 ahead of Japan's Wataru Morishige, who won the Olympic bronze medal in the event last year. Dubreuil, who won gold in the men's team sprint Thursday, described Stolz's performance as "otherworldly." "He's unbelievable. It's like trying to beat Michael Jordan or something, I assume," Dubreuil said. "I feel privileged to go against a skater this good. He's doing things that we would have deemed impossible." Dutch skater Femke Kok was the previous youngest gold medalist, taking the team sprint title at age 19 in 2020. The youngest world champion in an individual event was Czech skater Martina Sablikova, who was also 19 when she claimed her first gold. Stolz became the youngest man to win an individual World Cup race in November and dominated last month's junior world championships in Inzell, Germany. He swept the 500-, 1,000- and 1,500-meter titles and earned bronze in the other two individual events, the 5,000 meters and mass start. He also won gold in the men's team sprint. He became only the third speedskater to win junior and senior single distance world titles in the same season, joining fellow Wisconsin natives Eric Heiden and Beth Heiden.
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