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Jake Paul Had Tears of Joy Watching Fiancé Jutta Leerdam’s Record-Setting Gold

Dutch speed skater closed out an epic run to secure gold.
Jake Paul reacts to his fiancé, Jutta Leerdam, winning gold and setting an Olympic record.
Jake Paul reacts to his fiancé, Jutta Leerdam, winning gold and setting an Olympic record. | @ClippedSZN on X

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.

More: 2026 Winter Olympics TV Guide—Full Schedule and What to Watch Every Day of the Games

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.

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.


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Kyle Koster
KYLE KOSTER

Kyle Koster is an assistant managing editor at Sports Illustrated covering the intersection of sports and media. He was formerly the editor in chief of The Big Lead, where he worked from 2011 to '24. Koster also did turns at the Chicago Sun-Times, where he created the Sports Pros(e) blog, and at Woven Digital.

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