Jutta Leerdam

Leerdam was in a relationship with Dutch speed skater Koen Verweij from 2017 to 2022. Since 2023, she has been in a relationship with American YouTuber and professional boxer Jake Paul. They confirmed their relationship publicly in April 2023 after first communicating through Instagram.

Leerdam and Paul announced their engagement in March 2025. Paul attended the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milano Cortina, where he supported Leerdam during her gold-medal-winning 1000-metre race.

Leerdam grew up in 's-Gravenzande in the Westland region of the Netherlands. She played field hockey for eight years and also tried gymnastics and tennis before taking up speed skating at the age of 11. Her father encouraged the change because he believed sport could help her manage her hyperactivity, and she was drawn to skating's individual nature.

Her father, Ruud Leerdam, named her after German windsurfing world champion Jutta Müller. Leerdam initially completed a HAVO certificate and studied Sport Marketing & Management at Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences. She later transferred to the Johan Cruyff Academy in Groningen to study commercial economics, but left the programme after one semester to concentrate on speed skating.

Leerdam became junior world champion at the 2017 World Junior Championships in Helsinki. During the 2017-18 season, she won the ISU Junior World Cup competitions in the 1000 metres and 1500 metres and became Dutch junior sprint champion. She finished runner-up at the 2018 World Junior Championships in Salt Lake City.

She turned professional in 2018 and joined Team IKO. In her senior debut season, she became Dutch sprint champion and won the world team sprint title with Letitia de Jong and Janine Smit. She later helped establish Team Worldstream with Koen Verweij before leaving the team in 2022 for Team Jumbo-Visma.

Leerdam won her first major individual title in the 1000 metres at the 2020 European Championships. That year she also won the 1000 metres at the World Single Distances Championships in Salt Lake City with a time of 1:11.84, a Dutch record, and helped the Netherlands retain the team sprint title with Letitia de Jong and Femke Kok.

She won the 2022 World Sprint Championships, taking the combined 500-metre and 1000-metre title. She reclaimed the 1000-metre world title at the 2023 World Single Distances Championships and has won multiple European titles in both single-distance and sprint competition.

Leerdam made her Olympic debut at the 2022 Beijing Games, competing in the 500 metres and 1000 metres. She won silver in the 1000 metres with a time of 1:13.83 behind Japan's Miho Takagi and placed fifth in the 500 metres.

At the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics, Leerdam won gold in the women's 1000 metres in 1:12.31, setting an Olympic record. She also won silver in the 500 metres.

Leerdam joined Team Jumbo-Visma in 2022 and worked with coach Jac Orie. After that collaboration ended, she spent part of a season training independently before returning to coach Kosta Poltavets and working with the international Team Novus group.

Team Novus was led by former skaters Michel Mulder and Daniel Greig. Leerdam trained there with sprinters including her second cousin Dione Voskamp and Naomi Verkerk. She also dealt with a recurring left ankle injury that affected her training and competition during the 2024-25 period.