KEWASKUM — Speed skater Jordan Stolz will represent the United States, Wisconsin and Washington County at the Olympics in Milan.
His parents showed TMJ4 News the pond where this Olympic dream began before they take off for Milan to support their 21-year-old son on Tuesday.
Sixteen years ago, 5-year-old Jordan Stolz asked his parents, Jane and Dirk, to clear the snow off their pond so he and his sister could start speed skating practice under the home-assembled lights.
"He was very young, writing down on notes, 'I'm going to be an Olympian!'" Jane said.
His parents always believed in him, even when they didn't understand his natural talent as he started practicing with Olympic-level coaches.
Watch: Speed skater Jordan Stolz's parents reflect on son's Olympic career, starting on Kewaskum pond
"He knows what his feet need to do to make things happen," Jane said. "I'd be like, 'Do you even understand a word they said, Jordan?' He's like, 'I have no idea what they said.' 'So how did you know what to do?' 'I just go fast and they say it's perfect!' So he's had that natural gift of being able to feel the ice."
An ability that now has him eyeing history by becoming only the second American to win three or more gold medals at the Olympic Winter Games.
"Yeah, I didn't realize it was going to be world records, track records in every continent," Jane said. "I didn't realize it was going to be quite that much!"
The World Cups leading up to the Olympics have taken them around the world, added some fame to Jordan's name, but they said it has never inflated his ego.
"It's how we raised him," Dirk said. "We're not showoffs or anything like that. Just kind of do our business and don't brag. We're not big braggers or anything, I guess."
The family wants other future skaters to see their dreams can become reality.
"You can come from anywhere, anyplace, and make it to the top of the world, right?" he said. "So, if you have the ambition, the drive—and I think parents play a big part in it—supporting kids. It doesn't matter where you come from."
When asked what will be running through their minds when they're watching him at the Olympics, both parents responded with a calm sense of humor, humility and pride.
"Don't fall, haha!" they said. "Don't fall and don't slip!"
Stolz's first event is on Feb. 11.
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