Stolz and Shiffrin Face Adversity on the Road to Milano Cortina

Injuries, illness, and mental barriers shape U.S. speed skating sensation Jordan Stolz and Alpine skiing icon Mikaela Shiffrin’s Olympic preparations for eye redemption and gold in 2026, respectively.

Key Points Describe Jordan Stolz’s 2025-26 season, which included injuries such as a neck strain, pneumonia, strep throat, and a serious bike crash, despite his continued competitive success. Highlight Stolz’s tenacity as he returned to competition after major health setbacks, winning three podium results at the World Championships and preparing for national qualifications. Explain how Stolz’s physical and mental obstacles in the offseason motivated his passion and ambition for the 2026 Winter Olympics.

The route to Olympic gold is rarely straight and smooth. Jordan Stolz and Mikaela Shiffrin, two of America’s best winter sports talents, have already experienced a tumultuous ride of misfortune, recuperation, and renewed desire during the 2025-26 season. As both competitors prepare for the Milano Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games, their journeys—marked by physical setbacks, mental fights, and an unwavering quest for excellence—are enthralling spectators and laying the groundwork for what may be a watershed moment in American winter sports history.

Let’s start with Jordan Stolz, a 21-year-old speed skater from Wisconsin. Stolz’s meteoric rise in the sport has been nothing short of impressive. He’s a six-time world champion most renowned for his scorching pace in the 1000m and large combo events. However, the past year has put him to the test in ways he could not have expected. The crisis started in January 2025 at the Calgary World Cup. Stolz suffered a severe spill while warming up for the 1000m, slamming into the pads with enough power to hurt his neck and bruise his elbow. Most skaters would have called it quits. Not Stolz. He shook off the anguish, lined up at the start, and pushed his way to victory. Later, he stated to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel that he threw up between the finish line and the medal presentation, demonstrating his tenacity and resolve.

Stolz was unstoppable just a week later, back on his home ice in Milwaukee. He won three gold medals and one silver, bringing an incredible 18-race winning streak to a stop while still demonstrating his supremacy at the midway of the season. However, the grandeur lasted just a short time. Within days, Stolz’s body began to turn against him. He died as a result of pneumonia and strep throat. “I thought it would be just a little cold, but it wouldn’t go away, and it got worse,” he told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “So I ended up staying in bed for six days, and eventually even longer. And then I didn’t skate for about two weeks. But the important problem was the strep throat and pneumonia, which wrecked me. And antibiotics, of course.”

The double infection was a big shock to an athlete who had grown accustomed to feeling untouchable. Stolz was forced off the ice, and his momentum stalled. However, by March, he was back on the starting line, still not at full strength but determined not to let illness define his season. In a display of sheer willpower, he secured three podium results at the World Championships, demonstrating that his competitive fire remains hot even in the most difficult situations.

Then, as if illness wasn’t enough, June delivered yet another setback. Stolz, like many other speed skaters, uses cycling to keep his legs strong throughout the offseason. However, a regular ride near his house in Kewaskum, Wisconsin, turned into a nightmare when his bike chain slipped while sprinting. He was thrown over the handlebars and crashed heavily in a ditch. The impact ripped apart his right shin, revealing bone and tendons. His helmet split on contact, forcing him to phone his sister for assistance. “It was quite deep. “You could see them [the tendons] moving in the hospital room,” Stolz said. After three hours in the ER, sixteen stitches, and a course of amoxicillin, he was patched up. Remarkably, he was back on his bike within a week, shin strapped, refusing to let the ailment hold him back for long.

Stolz now has a thick scar down his shin—a “Harry Potter scar,” as his coach refers to it. It’s a lightning bolt reminder of a summer that shattered any illusions of invincibility while simultaneously revealing a new level of resilience. “Yeah, I guess you could say it was motivating, if you want to write that,” Stolz told the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel. “I would kind of keep that on my mind throughout the summer.” Now, as he prepares to compete in the U.S. national championships from October 23 to 26—a critical World Cup team qualifier—Stolz is focused on the only medal lacking from his increasing collection: Olympic gold.

Meanwhile, on the slopes, Mikaela Shiffrin is creating her own comeback story. Shiffrin is unquestionably the best Alpine skier of all time, with 101 World Cup victories and 157 career podium finishes. She has won an incredible 15 world championship medals, five overall crystal globes, and 11 discipline titles. However, the Olympics—the platform that draws the world’s attention every four years—have proved a more difficult arena for her. Despite having won two gold medals in three outings, Shiffrin believes she still has something to show. “I feel aged,” the 30-year-old revealed during a recent news appearance. “Wiser, but also, the more I know, the more I feel like I know nothing.”

Uncertainty is the theme as Shiffrin begins the 2025-26 FIS Alpine Ski World Cup season on October 25 with a giant slalom in Sölden, Austria. She is unsure whether she will pursue the overall championship or compete in super-Gs. What she does know is that she plans to compete in three Olympic competitions in Italy next February: slalom, giant slalom, and team combined. “I don’t think I know really many ski racers who would target the (Olympic) Games over World Cup performance,” remarked the athlete. “The idea most of us tend to have is the more consistently you perform through the World Cup season, the more you will have momentum, some level of confidence and competence to bring into the Games.”

Shiffrin’s preparations have been meticulous. Following a traumatic abdomen puncture wound from a GS crash at Killington last November, she battled PTSD symptoms and struggled to regain her rhythm in the technical discipline. Her summer was spent recovering confidence through targeted training camps, including a June session at Copper Mountain, aimed at regaining her competitive edge in giant slalom. “It’s been an incredible journey to work from the end of last season where I had a total mind-body disconnect to where I am now, where I feel I’m more in control of the improvements I’m making,” according to her.

The World Cup itinerary is jam-packed: after Sölden, it’s off to Levi, Finland, on November 15, then back to Austria, and lastly the Stifel Copper Cup at Copper Mountain. December offers tech events in Tremblant, Canada, as well as a vital speed weekend in St. Moritz, which will help Shiffrin decide whether to include super-G in her Olympic preparations. And there’s more drama off the slopes: her fiancé, Aleksander Aamodt Kilde, is hoping to make a comeback at the Birds of Prey World Cup in Beaver Creek following a devastating crash and many operations. “He’s been working so, so hard and been just so relentless and so consistent in his rehab,” Shiffrin said, adding that her perseverance has taught her a lot.

Shiffrin is looking forward to competing at Milano Cortina, where she has previously competed. “I’m so excited to be in a place that’s familiar given my whole Olympic history,” she told reporters. Perhaps this level of comfort will help her write a new Olympic chapter—one that matches her World Cup brilliance and meets both her own and her fans’ expectations.

As the 2025-26 winter sports season begins, all eyes will be on Stolz and Shiffrin. Both have faced their fair share of adversity, yet their perseverance and desire for win remain unwavering. With the Olympics approaching, two of America’s top athletes will once again compete for glory.

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