Jake Paul’s fiancee Jutta Leerdam finished second to her outstanding Dutch teammate Femke Kok in the women’s 500m speed skating race on Sunday at the Winter Olympics, her second medal of the Games.
Cheered on by a nervous-looking Paul and his mother, Pam, in the stands in Italy, Leerdam took top spot with a time of 37.15 seconds.
It was an impressive speed but with her dangerous Dutch teammate Kok still to race on the ice, it didn’t feel like it would be enough for top spot.
And Kok duly demonstrated why she was the heavy favorite in a blazing race of her own alongside USA’s Erin Jackson.
Kok clocked an Olympic record time of 36.49 seconds to take the gold and a reverse with Leerdam from the 1,000m earlier in the Games.
That day, it was Leerdam who had surged to the top of the podium in the 1,000 meters, setting an Olympic record herself by crossing the finish line in 1 minute, 12.31 seconds. Kok, that day, was just behind her at 1:12.59.
Jutta Leerdam finished second to her Dutch teammate Femke Kok in the 500m race
Jake Paul and mother Pam cheer Leerdam on from the stands in Italy for Sunday’s race
Leerdam looked like she knew her time wouldn’t be enough when she finished her race
Paul promptly shared footage of his own drama from the stands, applauding wildly as Leerdam crossed the line.
‘First, she’s in first,’ he told his mom as her time came through on the jumbotron.
He later wrote on Instagram after her second-place finish was confirmed: ‘She’s so amazing, wow. Another medal, you inspire us all, Jutta Leerdam.’
Leerdam admitted she feared being overtaken in second by Jackson, telling reporters after the race: ‘I was like, ‘Oh, whoa, I have silver” so, very happy.’
She praised her teammate Kok, adding: ‘She’s always better at the 500. So for me years ago I didn’t really do good on a 500, so I kept growing and growing and growing and then now I put a big silver. It’s just everything I wanted.’
For Leerdam, two medals at these Games is a particular story of success given she crashed out of qualifying in late December for her signature 1,000m event.
She relied on the Dutch Olympic Committee to pick her for her strongest event, repaying that faith by winning gold in such commanding style.
Paul cried with joy when she won, and later said: ‘Man, words can´t even describe it. It’s the greatest feeling (of) anything I’ve ever witnessed, to be honest.
‘Just the amount of hard work that goes into it. Like 99.9% of people will never understand. And she pulled it off, under the most amount of pressure ever.’
Later in the day, Paul shared a video of him partying with Leerdam after she had won her second medal of the Games.
‘Time to celebrate,’ Paul captioned the video, where he was seen kissing his fiancee.
