Jutta Leerdam, 28, of the Netherlands, stood atop the podium in the women's 1,000 meters in speedskating at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics.
Leerdam crossed the finish line first in 1 minute, 12.31 seconds in the women's 1,000 final at the Milan Speedskating Stadium in Italy on the 10th, Korea time. Earlier, compatriot Femke Kok set an Olympic record in 1:12.59, but Leerdam immediately lowered the mark by 0.28 seconds to take gold.
Leerdam, the silver medalist in the women's 1,000 at the 2022 Beijing Olympics, is a powerhouse who won the world championships twice, in 2020 and 2023. She was followed by evaluations that she proved her class at this event with an explosive final burst. Leerdam will also compete in the women's 500 at these Olympics.
Leerdam is also well known as the fiancée of Jake Paul, 29, an American boxer who rose to fame as a YouTuber star. Paul cheered from the second row of the stands wearing an orange scarf, the Netherlands' symbolic color, and shed tears when Leerdam's victory was confirmed. The two began a public relationship on social media in 2023 and announced their engagement in March last year. Their social media follower counts also drew attention. Leerdam has about 5 million, and Paul has more than 28 million, for a combined total reported to exceed 33 million.
However, the spotlight was not entirely positive early in the Games. After it became known that Leerdam entered Milan not with the Dutch national team but on Paul's private jet, chatter followed, and controversy grew when she skipped the opening ceremony and posted on social media a scene of herself watching the national team's entrance from her accommodations on TV.