Jutta Leerdam’s Olympic hopes on the brink of collapse

Dutch speed skating hopeful Jutta Leerdam bounced back in the 500 meters race on Sunday as she hopes to make the Olympic team for the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.

Leerdam finished in second place behind Femke Kok in the race. Kok, who set the world record in the women’s 500 meters in November, clocked 36.873. Leerdam finished with a time of 37.242.

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This is a much better result than Friday.

Leerdam, who is the fiancée of boxer Jake Paul, crashed and fell on the ice during the 1,000 meter event. She was seen in tears as she skated off the ice.

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Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands looks dejected while competing in the women’s 500m during the first day of the Dutch Olympic speed skating qualifiers in Thialf, December 26, 2025, in Heerenveen, Netherlands. (Henk Jan Dijks/Marcel ter Bals/DeFodi Images/DeFodi via Getty Images)

“I skate so well in practice. What these girls are skating here, I could have easily done today,” she said via Olympics.com. “I’ve skated 1:14 here 25 times, and I feel even better now than I have in the last two years. I’m really getting there.”

There is still hope for Leerdam to qualify for the Olympics, as the national committee will ultimately decide whether Leerdam will make the cut.

Leerdam won a silver medal at the 2022 Beijing Games in the 1,000 meter race. She finished just behind Japan’s Miho Takagi, who set an Olympic record.

Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands receives the gold medal in the women’s 1000m during the ISU Speed ​​Skating World Cup at the Utah Olympic Oval, November 14, 2025. (Peter Creveling/Imagn Images)

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She skipped the 2025 ISU Speed ​​Skating World Cup in Hamar, Norway, to focus on the Olympic Trials.