MILAN, Feb. 14 (Xinhua) -- American star skater Jordan Stolz set another new Olympic record in the men's 500m speed skating here on Saturday on the way to his second gold medal from as many events at the Milan-Cortina Games.
Stolz held off a strong challenge from Jenning de Boo of the Netherlands to clock a winning time of 33.77 seconds, adding to his 1,000m triumph on Wednesday.
"Way less pressure. I really wanted to win the 1,000m and after that I knew the environment, what to expect," said Stolz. "I was just thinking about the pushes, went through the whole race in my mind and how I wanted to do it. I'm happy I pulled it off."
Crossing the 500m line 0.11 seconds behind, De Boo finished runner-up to Stolz again after the 1,000m race.
"I'm really happy, but I have some mixed feelings as well. This silver medal tastes a little bit less sweet than the one in the 1,000m," said the 22-year-old Dutch skater. "I'm missing out on that gold, in my distance, so that's a pity. The 500m is my distance, it was my last chance to become a champion here. I'm very happy with silver, but I would rather have finished on the top step of the podium."
Stolz admitted it was a really close contest, during which both De Boo and himself bettered the previous Olympic record of 34.26 seconds set by Canadian Laurent Dubreuil minutes before their race.
"It was super close. I already knew it was going to be close before the race," said Stolz. "I thought if I skated a perfect one, and I get a really good last outer [turn], I can probably pull it off."
"Coming down the last hundred [meters], I thought I should be able to beat him and that's exactly what I did. I had a really good outer turn and I could feel him (De Boo) coming up. When I first entered the turn I was waiting to hear his skates, and I wasn't hearing them yet. Then, finally, he started coming up next to me and I thought: 'I can beat him now'."
Dubreuil, who had shattered the previous Olympic mark of 34.32 seconds set by China's Gao Tingyu in Beijing four years ago, settled for bronze.
The defending champion, Gao, placed seventh in 34.47.
