Winter Olympics 2026: Jutta Leerdam, Jake Paul’s fiancée, takes home second medal after surprising finish in women’s 500 meters

MILAN — About an hour after securing her second medal of these Olympics on Sunday night, the world’s most famous speedskater fielded a question from a reporter that made her chuckle.

Of course, Jutta Leerdam hadn’t yet sifted through all the messages on her phone after taking silver in the women’s 500 meters. The Dutch star still had unopened messages from six days earlier when she won the 1,000 meters and set a new Olympic record.

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“[My phone] always blows up kinda a lot,” Leerdam said. “I probably need a day.”

In a niche sport that seldom receives much attention outside of the speedskating-obsessed Netherlands and a few other hotspots, Leerdam, 27, has built an audience that extends far beyond the oval. She is the sport’s one true rock star, a cultural and social media sensation who was already an international icon even before she began dating YouTube influencer-turned-boxer Jake Paul in 2023.

More than 6 million people follow Leerdam on Instagram. Millions more follow her on other platforms. She’s so famous in the Netherlands that Dutch King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima climbed down from the stands to request a trackside selfie with her after her victory in the 1,000 meters.

Whereas Paul’s presence in boxing inspires intense debate over whether he is elevating the sport or diminishing it, Leerdam invokes no such discussion. The six-time world champion’s credentials as an elite speedskating sprinter were ironclad even before her display of explosive speed on the Olympic stage this week.

Last Monday, in the defining moment of her athletic career so far, Leerdam won her signature 1,000 meters by nearly three-tenths of a second over teammate Femke Kok. Six days later, the two Dutch stars inverted the order in the 500, with Kok clocking a time of 36.49 seconds to win gold and smash the Olympic record and Leerdam taking second place nearly seven-tenths of a second off the pace.

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To Leerdam, silver in the 500 was “the ideal result.” When she posted the fastest 500 time with three pairs left to skate, she was worried that someone besides Kok would bump her down to bronze or even off the medal podium. Leerdam said she never considered it realistic to defeat Kok, the world-record holder and three-time world champion in the 500 who hasn’t lost a race at that distance in two years.

“This is such a win for me,” Leerdam said, silver medal draped around her neck. “I already felt complete after the win in the 1,000 and now I have this one. So, yeah, very grateful.”

A video posted to Paul’s Instagram after Sunday night’s 500 showed him in the stands in Milan clapping for his fiancée as she crossed the finish line and shouting to no one in particular, “She’s in first! She’s in first!” The caption below the video read, “she’s so amazing wow another medal you inspire us all @juttaleerdam.”