World champion takes furious swipe at rival as American takes gold in 1000m men's speed skating after re-run

World 1000m speed skating champion Joep Wennemars was left furious by the actions of a Chinese competitor, leading to a re-skate, with American Jason Stoltz eventually taking gold at the Winter Olympics.

Drama unfolded when Wennemars, the 2025 world champion in the event and son of former sprint world champion Erben Wennemars, collided with China's Lian Ziwen while racing in the 11th pair, leaving the Dutchman furious as he looked on course for a big result.

While changing lanes after a turn, Ziwen, who was in the inside lane, clipped Wennemars' skate.

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The skater in the outside line is granted right of way on exchanges. After reviewing the incident, officials disqualified the Chinese skater.

Wennemars was visibly angry after crossing the finish line, taking a swipe at Lian.

He clearly lost speed with the clip, potentially ruining his shot at a podium.

Dutch men had won the 1000m at each of the past three Winter Games.

Wennemars, 23, was granted a re‑skate but could manage only the fifth‑fastest time.

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American phenomenon Jordan Stolz lived up to the thunderous expectations surrounding him as he charged to gold, delivering the United States' first speed skating title at Milano Cortina.

Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands was a half-second slower than Stolz and took the silver medal. No one else came within a full second of Stolz's time. Zhongyan Ning of China got the bronze.

Now Stolz will hope to keep going and add to his collection of trophies as he entered three more events in Milan.

Skating in the next-to-last pairing at Milano Speed Skating Stadium, a temporary facility constructed for these Olympics that has been producing fast times so far, Stolz finished in 1 minute, 6.28 seconds.

The 21-year-old didn't threaten his world record of 1:05.37 but did better the Olympic standard of 1:07.18 that had stood since 2002 — before Stolz was born. All four long track speedskating races in Milan have been won in the fastest times ever turned in at an Olympics.

Stolz's medal was his first at this level: As a 17-year-old at the 2022 Beijing Games, Stolz came in 14th in the 1,000 and 13th in the 500.

It also was the first medal of any sort in the men's 1000m for the United States since the 2010 Vancouver Games.

That's when Shani Davis — a mentor to Stolz — won his second consecutive gold in that event, and Chad Hedrick took the bronze.

- with AP