The Dutch star, who combines commercial visibility alongside elite results, won gold on Monday in front of a packed arena that included her influencer boyfriend
J
utta Leerdam delivered the defining race of her career on Monday night, roaring to Olympic gold in the women’s 1000m and setting a new Olympic record of 1min 12.31sec to lead a Dutch one-two and deliver the Netherlands’ first medals of the Games.
The 27-year-old finished 0.28sec ahead of compatriot Femke Kok, who had briefly held the Olympic record after clocking 1:12.59 earlier in the final group. Japan’s defending Olympic champion Miho Takagi took bronze in 1:13.95.
Inside a packed 7,000-seat arena in Milan’s western suburbs, the atmosphere felt closer to Heerenveen than Lombardy. Most of the crowd wore Dutch orange, turning the venue into a rolling wall of noise as the final three heats unfolded. Among them was Leerdam’s fiance, the boxer-influencer Jake Paul, who wept uncontrollably from the second row after she won as her own tears left streaks of eyeliner down her face.
