The Real-Life Diet of Jordan Stolz, Who Runs on Sour Candy and Coke

Jordan Stolz, 21, left the Milano-Cortina Winter Games as a bona fide global star.

The American speedskating phenom has been on a tear since winning the Speedskating World Championships in 2023, but he carries his fortitude quietly; he’s more matter-of-fact than some of his Team USA breakout peers. (In Italy, that new guard included figure skaters Alysa Liu and Ilia Malinin, and—if you were new to hockey, perhaps given, you know, this—Jack Hughes.)

Which is why you might have missed it: Stolz was the winningest American at these past games. He walked away with three medals (two golds and a silver), and narrowly missed a fourth. This alone is remarkable. And the way he won two of them is something else entirely.

Stolz set Olympic records in both the 500-meter and 1000-meter summits, staking his claim as the best sprinter in the world at present. His 33.77-second finish in the 500 trimmed nearly half a second off the previous threshold, held by China’s Gao Tingyu at 34.32. In a sport decided by hundredths of a second—when wearing even a tank-top beneath your speed suit can cost you time due to protruding folds in the fabric—the margin left fans borderline breathless. If Stolz had been skating that particular race at a higher altitude (thinner air), it might’ve meant he’d break the world record. There’s a reason Dutch media—hailing from arguably the most speedskating-obsessed nation on earth—have dubbed him “Straaljager,” or, the fighter jet.

His prowess is the result of a highly specific and focused training regimen, which prioritizes his lower body and which involves a superhuman amount of carbs and protein. In the brief window between Milano-Cortina and the World Championships, which kick off in Holland on March 5, we spoke to Stolz about his intake (and sweet treats), grueling training days, and going sockless in his skates.

GQ: Hey Jordan. Where are you now, exactly? You’re still in Europe, right?

Jordan Stolz: I am, yeah. I’m two hours north of Amsterdam, in a town called Heerenveen—northern Holland area. The Speed Skating World Championships are here.

Back to back with the Olympics. That must be kind of cool—you must keep the adrenaline going a bit.

It does wear off a little, because the Olympics were so important and we were putting everything into that. Now, you come here and it makes the World Championships kind of feel small—but of course, it’s not actually small!

Are you feeling a little bit of a post-Olympics withdrawal?

I for sure feel it. It’s been so long that I’ve been preparing for the Games. Starting last spring (2025) and working at it all summer, into the fall and early winter. Even though [the Games occur on a] four-year period, that’s the timeframe you start thinking about it every single day.

What is your routine like on peak moment days? You had four races at the Games… Tell us about those pre-race rituals.

I wouldn’t say anything out of the ordinary. I usually don’t drink coffee on race days, because I get too jittery and I don’t want to false start on the line if I have too much caffeine. So I try to avoid it on race days, but the days leading up to them, I’ll drink some. Otherwise, it’s usually the same as any other day.

What does your hardest training day look like?

In the summer, that could be a really hard five-hour bike ride, or a really hard weight session. Or on the ice, it’s intervals—like 500 meters on, 700 meters off. Multiple times—probably three sets of six times, then maybe some eight hundreds. That takes a good hour and a half to finish the entire thing. That’s a pretty hard day.

When you say on and off, that’s skating the 500 and then running the 700?

No. You skate the 500 meters hard and then you rest the 700 meters. So it’s probably, like, 40 seconds on and then two minutes off.

I don’t do any upper body because you don’t want the weight on top to affect you going into the turns—because you have that G-force. For lower body, I do a lot of single-leg squats, back squats. I don’t do power cleans—more heavy 10 reps. Some leg presses, too, where you can do a lot of high reps.

With these Games, there was a lot of discussion around how athletes process pressure. When you’re feeling it the most, how do you process it?

I dissolve it. I try not to think about it. The media and all the videos online—that’s not actually going to affect your race, in the end. It can only negatively impact it if you’re thinking about it constantly and thinking you have to perform for all of that. So I don’t think about the noise, and I also don’t think about skating too much, either. In a race, it’s about putting almost every thought out of your mind.

In terms of factoring in weight on race day and being as aerodynamic as possible, what do you wear under the speed suit?

I’m only in my underwear.

Just underwear?

That’s all I have on. I go barefoot in the skates too.

Do you keep them extra tight or like a little room?

I like a little room. But, with the skin suit, you want it as tight as possible because it’s more aerodynamic. You don’t want wrinkles. Wearing a shirt isn’t good because it creates wrinkles and slows you down.

Even little ridges can be a thousandth of a second. Do other people wear socks?

On a high level, nobody wears socks.

What do you hate most in training?

Probably when the rink is freezing cold in your skin suit. Training on a cold rink, you put on layers of jackets, take them off to do your intervals, stop, put everything back on. That gets bad. It’s nice when a rink is warm—like 60 or 70 degrees.

You can skate on a rink that warm?

Yeah. At the Olympics it was probably between 60 and 70 degrees.

How’s your circulation?

Your hands get cold, but it’s not as bad as outdoors. Some people skate outside and get frostbite.

You’re from Wisconsin, a famously very cold place in the winter. Did you train outdoors as a kid?

Yeah, I started on my pond. I remember freezing. My toes felt like they were going to fall off. I know a lot about that.

What is the optimal diet for speedskating goals?

A lot of protein and a lot of carbs. My main meals are steak and rice. Rice gives carbs for the workout. It’s a really explosive sport, so you need carbohydrates and sugar. I try to get protein because when you’re lifting and skating you need something to rebuild. I don’t really monitor sugar—as long as I don’t get fat. Some days I’ll have a lot of sugar—gummy snacks, maybe a Coke. It doesn’t matter if you’re burning it in training. I also take gel packets—40 grams of carbs and 20 grams of sugar. On a five-hour bike ride you could take eight of those. Throw some soda in with them, too.

What’s your guilty cheat food?

Sour candies. Or cheesecake.

What’s your favorite typical Wisconsin meal?

Probably just a cheeseburger. A Sprecher root beer is pretty good. I drink a lot of that in the summer.

Is that a local brand?

I’m pretty sure it’s from Milwaukee.

Milwaukee is famous for beer, too. Do you drink alcohol?

No.

If you need a mental pick-me-up, what do you do to instantly feel better?

Get on the bike, do weightlifting. You’ll always feel better after that. Usually my stress comes from thinking about training—what I have to do to get better—and then you just start doing it, and that stress goes away. Exercise is huge for mental health.

And for pure enjoyment when you don’t have to train. Any hobbies?

Just relax. Sometimes I’ll go for a spin on the bike in the sun. Or go fishing. Something relaxing.

Well. Safe travels home once you’re finally finished in Europe. Hopefully it’ll be springtime.

I don’t plan on it being warm when I get back.

In Real-Life Diet, athletes, celebrities, and other high performers talk about their diet, exercise routines, and pursuit of wellness. Keep in mind that what works for them might not necessarily be healthy for you.