Jutta Leerdam moved her fiancé Jake Paul to tears with her record-breaking performance at the 2026 Winter Olympics, winning gold in the women’s 1,000-meter speedskating event with a time of 1:12.31 on Italian ice.
The result came after her Dutch teammate, Femke Kok, had already lowered the Olympic mark earlier in the session, setting up a high-pressure final run for Leerdam. Skating in the last pair against defending champion Miho Takagi, Leerdam went even faster to secure the title.
Her victory unfolded in front of fiancé Jake Paul, whose presence in the stands drew attention from fans following the couple’s social media accounts.
Leerdam lowers Olympic mark again in final heat
“Everyone saw how hard a position I had in the last pair, after a super good time. For everyone, it was surreal,” Leerdam said after the race. “It feels very amazing. Just like a cherry on top of my career, basically. It’s amazing. It’s perfect.”
Backed by a large contingent of orange-clad supporters, the 2022 silver medalist kept a steady rhythm through the laps before raising her arm at the finish line and shouting in celebration. She then skated toward the boards near Paul, blowing kisses and forming a heart shape with her hands as tears streaked her cheeks.
“My makeup was everywhere,” Leerdam added. “But that’s a good thing, I think.”
Kok finished second in 1:12.59, also faster than the previous Olympic best of 1:13.19 that Takagi posted in Beijing, with Takagi taking bronze this time.
“After Femke hit the Olympic record, then SHE breaks the Olympic record,” Paul said about Leerdam. “Just the best thing ever.”
Kok said she briefly thought her own mark might hold.
“I knew it was a good time, so maybe it was enough for gold,” she said. “But she was just a little bit faster. I can only respect that.”
American skater Brittany Bowe placed fourth, missing out on what would have been her third Olympic bronze in what she has said is her final Games at age 37. Another U.S. entrant, Erin Jackson, finished sixth.
Leerdam is scheduled to compete again next Sunday in the 500-meter race. She entered the Olympics with 12 world championship medals, including six golds, two of them in the 1,000 from 2020 and 2023.
She has also been dominant in the distance this season, winning three of the four World Cup races she entered, including a victory over Kok in Germany last month.
Bowe pointed to the spotlight surrounding Leerdam as she reflected on the performance.
“She’s one of one. She obviously has a platform that nobody else has had in the speedskating world,” Bowe said. “And I have to just give my hat off to her and give her her flowers today.
“I can’t even imagine the amount of pressure and expectation that has been put on her the past couple of years and then, really, in this moment. And so for her to be able to deliver an Olympic-record performance like that is really commendable. … I know the pressure, the stress, everything, it takes to be able to fight for that.”
Also during the 2026 Olympics, Spanish figure skater Tomàs-Llorenç Guarino Sabaté almost had to change his Minions routine after a copyright scare nearly derailed his whole performance.
