Securing a medal for the Netherlands, speed skater Jutta Leerdam set a new Olympic record as she won gold while her fiancé Jake Paul watched on this evening (9 February).
And as she clocked an incredible 1:12.31 in the 1,000 metres, Paul was pictured bursting into tears of pride.
The 27-year-old Dutch athlete had picked up silver in the Beijing 2022 Winter Olympic Games with that year’s winner, Takagi Miho, picking up bronze today with 1:13.95.
Leerdam’s teammate Femke Kok took silver with 1:12.59.
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Her fellow Dutch speed skater had set the Olympic record with that time, adding the extra challenge for Leerdam afterwards.
While her YouTuber-turned-boxer partner watched on with a Dutch scarf, she was also seen wiping away the tears after crossing the finish line. Leerdam headed over to the sideboards, where she blew a kiss and made a heart shape with her hands to Paul.
The pair went Instagram official back in April 2023, with the social media star having slid into her DMs to invite the world champion onto his podcast.
“I never, ever expected to date him, like never,” Leerdam revealed on the Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson documentary. “Of course, I didn’t know a lot about him. I could only scroll on his Instagram and form an opinion like the whole world does. But he is the complete opposite.”
Paul proposed to the athlete in March of last year while they were on a trip to St Lucia. They announced the news in a joint Instagram post as they said they ‘can’t wait to spend forever together’.
With her own huge following on social media, Leerdam was a bit of a favourite for today’s 1,000 metres event.
Having made her Olympic debut back in Beijing, during this pre-Olympic season, she took home the European title and multiple World Cup medals.
Paul has since shared videos on Instagram of himself in tears at the event, writing: “I’M SO PROUD OF YOU,” and “MY BABY JUST SET THE OLYMPIC WORLD RECORD.”
In another post, picking up his fiancée, he wrote: “We just witnessed one of the most important sporting moments ever. The doc will tell. Words can’t describe how proud of you I am.”
He’d been showing plenty of support for Leerdam ahead of the event too, writing: “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.”
Topics: Winter Olympics, Jake Paul
Jess Battison