To become the next Eric Heiden ― or something close ― U.S. speedskater Jordan Stolz might hope again to wear the flower hat he was seen with after winning gold in the Winter Olympics 1,000 meters.
According to his parents, it’s a congratulatory chapeau that is tossed to winners by a Dutch fan who created it.
“They must throw it out for the Olympic champion,” Jordan’s father, Dirk Stolz, said to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel on Thursday.
“I never remember a woman wearing it,” Jordan’s mother, Jane Stolz, added.
Apparently, athletes must also return it.
“Wear it once, get some pictures of it and that’s it,” Jane Stolz said.
Jordan Stolz invokes flower power by putting on a hat made for winners by a fan.
China News Service via Getty Images
Heiden, the only speedskater to win five golds at one Olympics, watched from the stands as Stolz won his first race in Olympic record time.
Stolz will not be able to match the 1980 legend’s victory total because he has one less individual event ― but he still could become the only male speedskater to win exactly four in the same Olympics.
So perhaps there are three more chances to wear the hat again.
There are other hat traditions in sports, of course.
The rally cap calls on baseball players or fans to turn their caps inside out if they’re in need of a comeback.
And in a well-known rite on ice, hockey fans throw hats when a player scores three goals, known as a hat trick.
You could say Stolz is a hat trick of victories away from Olympic immortality.
