Jake Paul Broke Down In The Stands As Fiancee Jutta Leerdam Smashed The Olympic Record for Maiden Gold

Netherland’s Jutta Leerdam won her maiden gold four years after winning silver in the same event, women’s 1000m speed skating, in Bejing.

Jake Paul Broke Down In The Stands As Fiancee Jutta Leerdam Smashed The Olympic Record for Maiden Gold

Jutta Leerdam, Jake Paul (Images via @milanocortina26 on X, Fox News)

In Short
  • Jutta Leerdam won gold in the women's 1000m speed skating, breaking the Olympic record with a time of 1:12.31.
  • Jake Paul, Leerdam's fiancé, was emotional in the stands and celebrated her victory after the race.
  • The Netherlands continues to dominate speed skating, having won the most medals in the sport's history at the Winter Olympics.

In the Milano Speed Skating Arena in northern Milan, Olympic records tumbled not once but twice. The Dutch women retained the podium in women’s 1000m speed skating, with Jutta Leerdam taking the gold and Femke Kok settling for silver.

Erin Jackson, who carried Team USA into the San Siro Stadium a few days back, shot into the lead with 1:15.0. Jackson’s momentary happiness vanished when Kok took the rink with USA’s Brittany Bowe. Kok was effortlessly stunning, cruising into the gold medal position, breaking the Olympic record set by Miho Takagi in Beijing.

Leerdam, who was the last pair to race with Takagi, upped the ante and upgraded her silver from Beijing into a gold with the best timings in women’s 1000m speed skating in the Olympics with a 1:12.31 finish. Kok had set a time of 1:12.59, twenty-eight hundredths of a second short of a gold. Meanwhile, 2022 gold medalist Takagi settled for bronze.

Taking the gold she’s been chasing for four years, Leerdam skated to the stands where she blew a kiss and a heart to her fiancé, Jake Paul. Paul was visibly emotional throughout Leerdam’s race, clapping and wringing his hands before breaking into tears when she finally won the race.

He celebrated along with Leerdam’s family and lifted Leerdam following her medal ceremony as she bit down on the gold. Later, Paul took to X to share his excitement over Leerdam’s victory in Milan. He wrote:

Juttttttttttaaaaaaaa. I can’t stop crying. You did it my love. Olympic Gold. God is great and so are you.

Earlier, Leerdam had invoked heavy criticism after she reportedly flew into the Olympics on her fiancé’s private jet, sparking conversations of “diva” behavior from online users. Ahead of her competition, Paul visited her at the arena, where he presented her with a bucket of roses. In the video Paul uploaded of their romantic interaction, he addressed it to their future kids.

Jutta Leerdam and Femke Kok will now prepare for the women’s 500m on Sunday, after which Kok will race in the 1500m.

Femke Kok and Jutta Leerdam extend Dutch dominance in speed skating

The Netherlands, despite being a relatively flat country with rare snowfalls and elevated hills, often makes the top 10 NOCs in the Winter Olympics. And almost, it is much thanks to speed skating, an event they dominate lock, stock, and barrel.

Femke Kok (left), Jutta Leerdam (center), and Miho Takagi (right) at the women’s 1000m speed skating podium, posing with their medals (Image via @milanocortina26 on X)
Femke Kok (left), Jutta Leerdam (center), and Miho Takagi (right) at the women’s 1000m speed skating podium, posing with their medals (Image via @milanocortina26 on X)

The Dutch are the most successful country in speed skating with 48 gold, 44 silver, and 41 bronze ahead of the Milan Cortina Games. They have successfully finished as the best nation in the sport in seven different editions, starting with the 1968 Grenoble Games. The Netherlands has emerged as the best nation in the past three editions: Sochi, PyeongChang, and Beijing.

As the biggest speed skating contingent with 18 speed skaters, the Dutch started their medal count yesterday, with Leerdam and Kok making the podium. Joy Beune had come close to a medal in the women’s 3000m two days ago, before Francesca Lollobrigida and Valerie Maltais‘ round pushed her from silver to fourth position. After three consecutive days of action, there are no speed skating events today.

It will begin again tomorrow with the men’s 1000m, where the USA’s Jordan Stolz will look to break the Dutch dominance in the event. They have won it in the last three games; 2018 champion Kjeld Nuis will look to claim his lost throne.

Above 90% of the Netherlands’ total medals in the Winter Olympics have come from the sport. Around 6% have been from sport track skating, which is a variant of speed skating. In short track, the rinks are much more compact with more focus on agile turns and maneuvers rather than endurance.

Apart from the two, they have also medalled gold in figure skating and snowboarding once. They have two silvers in figure skating and one bronze in skeleton to round their all-time medal tally.

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