Leerdam wins 1,000m gold, as fiance Jake Paul weeps in the stands

MILAN — There is little question that Jutta Leerdam and her fiance, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, have brought new eyeballs to speed-skating with all of their millions of followers on social media. Now, all of those people who have been introduced to her sport saw Leerdam become an Olympic champion.

Stepping to the line, well aware that her talented Dutch teammate, Femke Kok, had bettered the event's existing Winter Games record two heats earlier Monday, and with Paul getting out of his second-row seat to cheer, Leerdam lowered that mark even further and won in one minute, 12.31 seconds at the Milano-Cortina Olympics.

"Everyone saw how hard of a position I had in the last pair, after a super good time. For everyone, it was surreal," said Leerdam, who was up against defending champion Miho Takagi of Japan in the day's final heat. "It feels very amazing. Just like a cherry on top of my career, basically. It's amazing. It's perfect."

In front of a raucous crowd of orange-clad fans from her speed skating-loving nation, 2022 silver medalist Leerdam never strayed from her rhythm until she'd crossed the finish line. Then she threw an arm overhead and let out a shout.

Soon, she was near where Paul was standing. Leerdam blew him kisses and formed a heart shape with her hands as tears — and mascara — streaked down her cheeks.

"My makeup was everywhere,"Leerdam said later with a laugh."But that's a good thing, I think."

Kok was next, a little more than a quarter of a second behind, in 1:12.59 — quicker than the 1:13.19 Takagi skated to defeat Leerdam at the Beijing Games and record the previous best 1,000m mark at an Olympics. This time Takagi is taking home the bronze.

"After Femke hit the Olympic record, then she breaks the Olympic record," Paul said about Leerdam."Just the best thing ever."

The winning times in all three speed skating races so far in the temporary arena built for these Olympics have been new Winter Games marks.

Kok thought hers might stand up.

"I knew it was a good time, so maybe it was enough for gold," Kok said. "But she was just a little bit faster. I can only respect that."

Brittany Bowe, the 37-year-old United States star who still holds the 1,000m world record that she set in 2019, was fourth Monday, missing out on what would have been her third career bronze in what she says is her final trip to an Olympics.

Another US skater, Erin Jackson, the 500m gold medalist four years ago, was sixth.

Leerdam will chase another medal Sunday in the 500m. Her trophy case already includes 12 world championship medals, with six golds. Two of those titles arrived in the 1,000m — in 2020 and 2023.

She's been superb this season, winning three of the four World Cup races she entered at that distance, even beating Kok in Germany last month.

Her results bring extra attention. So does the massive amount of people who track her — and Paul's — every move on social media.

"She's one of one. She obviously has a platform that nobody else has had in the speed skating world,"Bowe said. "And I have to just take my hat off to her and give 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."