Why Dutch speed-skater Jutta Leerdam remains a polarising figure despite record-breaking success at Winter Olympics

Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam has been among the standout performers so far in the Winter Olympics currently taking place in Italy’s Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. The 27-year-old, after all, had won women’s 1,000m gold on Monday while smashing the Olympic record with a timing of 1:12:31, with Femke Kok winning silver to complete a Dutch one-two in the event.

And on Sunday, Leerdam – who was visibly emotional after her victory earlier this week – added another medal to her collection by winning silver in the women’s 500m sprint, with Kok smashing the Olympic record in this event for a change.

Despite her Olympic heroics, Leerdam finds herself in the spotlight for the wrong reasons in recent weeks.

From fall-out with speed-skating legend to arriving in Italy in a private jet

One reason could be the speed skating star’s boyfriend, American YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, who has publicly endorsed controversial US president Donald Trump and vice-president JD Vance. Leerdam had also made headlines after arriving in Italy in a private jet along with Paul instead of accompanying the Dutch contingent on a commercial flight, leading to Dutch sports pundits labeling her a “terrible diva”.

And it’s not just in the ongoing Milano-Cortina Games where Leerdam has been facing the heat from experts as well as the general public for her behaviour. She had, after all, a fallout with Dutch speed-skating icon Sven Kramer two years ago.

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Kramer, a four-time Olympic champion who was the team manager at the time, had disagreed with Leerdam pushing for customised training routines and commercial freedom, insisting that “no one is bigger than the team”.

At the same time, there are those who believe Leerdam’s athletic success combined with a massive social media following (she has 6.1 million followers on Instagram) will only be beneficial for speed skating and for winter sports in general.

Leerdam has already silenced many of her detractors with her record-breaking victory earlier this week and her 500m silver on Sunday will have further pushed criticism surrounding her personal life and her commercial interests to the backseat. And if she continues to produce such performances on the ice, such discussions will eventually fade into irrelevance.