Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam left the rest of the field far behind to capture gold in the women’s 1000m on Monday, cruising to a new Olympic record 1:12.31. Leerdam broke the previous record set a few minutes earlier by her teammate, Femke Kok, who took silver. Miho Takagi of Japan earned bronze.
The magical performance featured a somewhat routine start but Leerdam turned on the sets down the stretch to post victory.
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DUTCH DOMINATION. Jutta Leerdam captures GOLD in the women’s 1000m AND sets an Olympic Record! 👏 pic.twitter.com/gZoUTP2sU2
— NBC Olympics & Paralympics (@NBCOlympics) February 9, 2026
Leerdam’s gold follows a silver-medal performance at the 2022 Beijing Games, when she was beaten out by Takagi.
Leerdam’s fiancé, boxer and internet personality Jake Paul, had great seats for the event and had an emotional reaction to watching her come down the stretch and into the record books. The moment she crossed the line, Paul became overwhelmed with happiness and celebrated with other members of Leerdam’s support system.
Jake Paul in tears after his fiancée Jutta Leerdam won gold at the Olympics 💀pic.twitter.com/dv2BQxObyh
— clip 🛸 (@clippedszn) February 9, 2026
Earlier in the day, Paul shared a message of support and encouragement to his fiancé, writing that this was her day. Those words proved to be prophetic as she put together the historic sprint to close things out.
Today is your day baby. You’ve worked your whole life for this. We all love and support you so much 💫⭐️ go get em champ pic.twitter.com/rQ1qBMdepK
— Jake Paul (@jakepaul) February 9, 2026
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This article was originally published on www.si.com as Jake Paul Had Tears of Joy Watching Fiancé Jutta Leerdam’s Record-Setting Gold.
