Jake Paul watches on as fiancée Leerdam enjoys golden Olympic moment

In 2022, Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam won silver in the 1,000 meters at the Beijing Winter Olympics. The reaction at the time was relatively muted.

The following year, Leerdam announced she was in a relationship with YouTuber‑turned‑boxer Jake Paul (the two confirmed their engagement in 2025), and her visibility skyrocketed. She now boasts more than seven million combined followers across Instagram and TikTok.

But at the Milan-Cortina Winter Games today, Leerdam once again showed she’s far more than a social‑media phenomenon, capturing gold in the 1,000 meters with an Olympic‑record time of 1:12.31.

Another gold in store?

The 27-year-old secured the title with her fiancé cheering from the stands in Italy, as he continues his recovery from jaw surgery following December’s heavyweight loss to Anthony Joshua. And she is not done yet: she’ll chase the sprint double in the 500 meters on Saturday.

From the hockey field to the ice rink

Leerdam found her way to speed skating after spending many years playing field hockey, one of the most popular sports in the Netherlands.

Her father, an avid windsurfer, named her after Jutta Müller, a German champion in the sport. As a teenager, Leerdam went on to study Commercial Economics at the Johan Cruyff Academy (Hanze University of Applied Sciences, Groningen).

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