Zach Stoppelmoor is on his way to the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Italy. The 26-year-old from West Des Moines is the first Iowan to make the U.S. Speedskating team at the Olympics.
Stoppelmoor started playing roller hockey around the age of 6 after he saw a flyer from school. He said the coach was quickly impressed by his skating skills.
“He was like, ‘Hey, you're pretty fast. You should try out speed skating.' And I was like, ‘OK, I'll give it a chance,’” Stoppelmoor said.
That chance roughly two decades ago has resulted in a speed skating world record and has earned him a spot on Team USA at the Winter Olympics.
“The goal as a kid was just always go to the Olympics, try to win a Olympic medal,” Stoppelmoor said, adding that he set that goal when he was around 8 years old.
The Valley High School graduate practiced inline speed skating at Skate South in Des Moines. At 19 years old, he moved to Utah to pursue speed skating on ice.
Stoppelmoor is set to compete in the Men’s 500m race on Feb. 15.
