MILWAUKEE — Star speedskater Jordan Stolz figured some extra rest was more important than competing in an event he didn’t need to with an Olympic berth already assured, so after finishing first in the 500 meters at the U.S. trials Sunday, he decided to just line up at the start of the 1,500 instead of actually racing.

The 21-year-old Stolz, twice the world champion at the 500, 1,000 and 1,500 and expected to be one of the faces of the Milan Cortina Games, took a couple of strides from an upright position in the outside lane, then took a hard left and skated toward the sideline. He shrugged as he came off the track.

Emery Lehman, who is from Chicago, won the 1,500 in 1 minute, 44.20 seconds to get another of the three spots for U.S. men in that event, and Casey Dawson — who won the 5,000 on Friday — was second in 1:45.60.

The women’s 1,500 was won by Brittany Bowe, a 33-year-old who grew up in Florida; she’ll also compete in the 1,000 at her fourth Olympics. Greta Myers, a 21-year-old from Lino Lakes, Minn., initially finished second, was disqualified for making contact with Bowe during their heat, then again was second-fastest during a solo reskate more than an hour later, which she completed even faster than her original time.

Stolz arrived last week at the Pettit National Ice Center, about 40 minutes south of his hometown of Kewaskum, already assured of being prequalified for the Feb. 6-22 Olympics in four events based on World Cup results: 500, 1,000 and 1,500 meters, plus the mass start.

That means he only needed to participate at the trials in each of those races to make his spots official for the Winter Games.

“I’m just a little tired,” Stolz said about the choice to essentially skip the 1,500. “Qualify my spot and take a rest.”

In Saturday’s 1,000, his first race in Milwaukee and one in which he holds the world record, Stolz lost his footing right at the outset and fell to the ice, a stunning mistake. But he got right up and closed with the third-best time.

“Pretty impressive,” he said with a laugh.

Afterward, he blamed a recent head cold that left him dehydrated and cramping and without proper preparation.

In Sunday’s 500, he was smooth and speedy enough to finish first in 34.76 seconds, but he made clear he wasn’t pleased with that time. He planned to give himself a break for the 1,500 later Sunday but said he did plan to take part in the mass start on Monday.

“After the 1,000 yesterday, I feel pretty tried. It only took one race to get me a little tired,” he said. “But, yeah, it doesn’t matter.”

That’s because Stolz has made clear that he views these days as part of his training process a little more than a month ahead of what really matters: the Olympics.

Cooper McLeod, who was second in the 1,000, was next in the 500, 0.06 seconds behind Stolz. While three U.S. men will get berths in the 1,000 at the Olympics, Stolz was the only one assured of a spot as of Sunday.

There are other heats for the women’s and men’s 500 Monday, and each skater’s best time across the two days is what counts.

Erin Jackson, the reigning gold medalist in the women’s 500, also already had prequalified and only needed to show up at the starting line in that race. Like Stolz, she did far more than that, producing the fastest time Sunday by clocking 38.15 seconds — one day after winning the 1,000.

The American women have two spots in the Olympic 500 and the other will be settled Monday, the last day of the trials.

Sarah Warren was second-best among the women Sunday in 38.86.

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All of the opponents the Vikings will play next season are now finalized.

Most of the opponents were already known because of the rotational formula the NFL uses while putting together the schedule.

Aside from playing every team in the NFC North twice, the Vikings were slated to play every team in the NFC South and AFC East once. The final few games were determined by the same place finisher in the NFC East, NFC West, and AFC South.

Because the Vikings finished in third place in the NFC North, they will play the Washington Commanders, the San Francisco 49ers, and the Indianapolis Colts.

The full schedule will be released at some point in the spring. Here’s a breakdown of who the Vikings will play and where the games will take palce:

Home

Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, Atlanta Falcons, Carolina Panthers, Buffalo Bills, Miami Dolphins, Washington Commanders, Indianapolis Colts

Away

Chicago Bears, Detroit Lions, Green Bay Packers, New Orleans Saints, Tampa Bay Buccaneers, New England Patriots, New York Jets, San Francisco 49ers,

San Francisco 49ers

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One person died and another person was injured in a three-vehicle crash in Eagan on Friday night, officials said. One of the vehicles was a Minnesota Valley Transit Authority bus.

At 5:15 p.m. Friday, Eagan police were called to a  three-vehicle collision at Pilot Knob and Lone Oak roads. An adult was declared dead at the scene and a second person was taken to a hospital with minor injuries.

The two passengers on the MVTA bus were not injured.

The intersection was closed until nearly 9 p.m. Friday. No other details about the crash were disclosed by police.

Eagan police are investigating the crash with the assistance of the Minnesota State Patrol and the Hennepin County Medical Examiner’s Office. The latter will release the identity of the person killed.

Emergency responders from the Eagan Fire Department and M-Health Fairview also assisted at the scene.

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Several Minnesota Democratic lawmakers have condemned a social media post shared by President Donald Trump falsely suggesting that Gov. Tim Walz was behind the assassination House Speaker Emerita Melissa Hortman, his friend and colleague.

“Tonight, Donald Trump, who couldn’t be bothered to lower the flags to half staff or even say Melissa Hortman’s name until now, is spreading outrageous lies about her death. I cannot begin to explain the pain and anger that he is causing,” House DFL Leader Zack Stephenson, of Coon Rapids, said in a statement Saturday.

Trump’s Saturday post to his Truth Social site came as the Republican president has sought to politically damage Walz, who is running for a third term this year. The governor was the running mate of Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee defeated by Trump in 2024.

Walz is also being attacked by Trump over cases of fraud and alleged fraud in state social service programs during his tenure.

“Dangerous, depraved behavior from the sitting president of the United States. In covering for an actual serial killer, he is going to get more innocent people killed. America is better than this,” Walz himself wrote on X after Trump’s post.

“Trump is degrading the Office of the President by engaging in an outrageous lie,” said U.S. Rep. Betty McCollum, a Democrat who represents the St. Paul area.

“The man charged with killing Melissa and Mark Hortman, shooting John and Yvette Hoffman, and targeting dozens more Minnesota Democrats, was known to traffic in exactly the kind of conspiracy theory Donald Trump just endorsed,” Sen. Majority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, said in a written statement. “Lying about the assassinations of the Hortmans puts people in danger and fans the flames of political violence.”

Hortman and her husband, Mark, were fatally shot in their Brooklyn Park home on June 14; their dog, Gilbert, also died of gunshot wounds.

Suspected assassin Vance Boelter, 58, of Green Isle, Minn., faces state and federal charges in their deaths and in the shootings of state Sen. John Hoffman and his wife, Yvette, and the attempted shooting of their daughter, Hope, at their Champlin home the same night.

While prosecutors have yet to specify any motives for the attacks, Stephenson, who was close friends with Hortman, said she was “murdered by a right-wing, anti-abortion extremist who believed conspiracy theories about COVID. Melissa Hortman and Tim Walz were friends and allies. Anyone who claims otherwise is lying.”

The conspiracy theories about Hortman’s death stem from Boelter’s confession letter, which a federal prosecutor in July said “seems designed to excuse his crimes.” The letter itself included Boelter’s conspiratorial claim that Walz ordered him to kill U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar so the governor could run for the U.S. Senate.

Other old conspiracy theories related to the June lawmaker attacks have resurfaced since national scrutiny of fraud investigations in state social service programs increased over the holidays.

For instance, one theory falsely claims that Hortman’s murder was motivated by her vote at the end of the 2025 legislative session to repeal MinnesotaCare health insurance for undocumented immigrant adults.

There is no evidence to suggest the assassination was motivated by that vote. Hortman did not vote for the repeal because she supported it — she and the House DFL were against the repeal. She agreed to be the lone Democratic “yes” vote as part of a state budget compromise with Republicans in the evenly divided House to keep the government operating.

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