Jutta Leerdam got what she came to Milan for.
On Monday afternoon, the Dutch speed skater wowed the crowd with an Olympic-record and gold-medal run of 1:12.31 in the women’s 1,000 meter speed skating final.
Leerdam skated around the track, crying and waving to the crowd as she celebrated winning her first Olympic gold medal. Her fiancé, Jake Paul, could be seen in the crowd flooded with emotion.
The race consisted of 15 heats — each with a pair of speed skaters who qualified for the final. Leerdam competed in the final heat alongside the defending Olympic and world champion, Miho Takagi of Japan. Leerdam bumped her down to third place.
Just a heat before Leerdam, Dutch star Femke Kok and Team USA’s Brittany Bowe shook things up. Kok crossed the line with a leading time of 1:12.59 followed world record holder Bowe, who came in behind with a time of 1:14.55.
The two completely wiped out fellow American Erin Jackson’s top time 1:15.00 after she only competed a heat earlier. Bowe was later robbed of the bronze by Takagi.
Leerdam had been waiting for this moment since winning silver in the women’s 1,000 meter race at the 2022 Beijing Games. She trailed Takagi that year and Bowe placed third.
Paul showed some pre-race encouragement to his fiancé, 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” on X along with a photo of the couple holding hands.
The couple have been together since 2022 after they met each other through Instagram.
Disclaimer : This story is auto aggregated by a computer programme and has not been created or edited by DOWNTHENEWS. Publisher: nypost.com
