Her fiancé might be a man best known for YouTube pranks and bad boxing, but the serious sporting talents of Jutta Leerdam were highlighted magnificently with a long-track speedskating gold medal at the Winter Olympics on Monday.
The Dutchwoman, engaged to Jake Paul, stormed to the 1,000m title in Milan, breaking the Olympic record in the process with a time of 1:12.31.
It was a remarkable way to upgrade the silver medal she won in Beijing four years ago, not to mention a fine means of shutting down criticisms that accompanied her arrival in Italy.
By choosing to travel in a private jet away from the wider Dutch team, she was accused of being a ‘diva’ by former Netherlands footballer Johan Derksen, among others. Based on how she performed at these Olympics, the comments aged badly.
Paul, watching in the second row, has laboured through a peculiar sporting career of his own, which most recently included a defeat against Anthony Joshua prior to Christmas and a succession of fights against ageing greats, including Mike Tyson. His presence in the sport has split opinion – is he bringing new eyeballs to boxing or diminishing it?
Leerdam invokes no such discussion. By beating her team-mate Femke Kok, she added to the six world titles she already had to her name.
Leerdam was seen wiping tears away after crossing the line to seal the gold medal. Her compatriot Kok finished with the silver medal, while Takagi claimed the bronze.
Leerdam had been fortunate to have appeared in the event, after being a discretionary pick by the Dutch team after crashing in their trials back in December.
Paul took to social media following the final, writing: ‘Juttttttttttaaaaaaaa. I can’t stop crying.
‘You did it my love. Olympic Gold. God is great and so are you.’
Paul had earlier sent Leerdam a message of support ahead of the event on social media.
The YouTuber-turned-boxer wrote: ‘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.’
The American had also shared a social media post from the stands ahead of the race, encouraging US viewers to tune in to watch the final.
In the build-up to her event, Leerdam had received criticism over her decision to skip the Opening Ceremony.
Taking to her Instagram story on Friday, she shared a picture of the Netherlands team as they marched through and captioned it with the nation’s flag and a heart emoji.
Leerdam’s decision to skip the event comes after she was branded a ‘prima donna’ and ‘diva’ following her decision to fly to the Winter Olympics on a private jet.
With her entourage in tow, Leerdam was greeted onto the jet with custom flags and handmade cupcakes with a message of support written on them.
The jet’s television screen had also been transformed to an orange background with Leerdam’s picture on it. Jake Paul commented on the post, writing: ‘Time to shine’.
Upon her arrival, Leerdam then appeared to take a private car with her friends to the athletes’ village and then posed for selfies in front of the iconic Olympic rings before starting to practice.
Leerdam’s antics have reportedly not gone down well back home and former Dutch soccer player turned analyst Johan Derksen did not hold back on the 27-year-old beauty.
He said: ‘She should want it of her own accord. She’s already living like a millionaire, with private jets and everything.
‘Her behaviour is horrible to me, like that of a diva. If I were her coach, I wouldn’t tolerate that.
‘Gradually the whole of the Netherlands is starting to get a bit fed up with her behaviour.’
