Jake Paul was overcome with emotion as he watched his fiancée, Jutta Leerdam, power to gold in the women’s 1,000m speed skating final at Milano Cortina 2026 on Monday, Feb. 9. The YouTuber and boxer burst into tears when Leerdam sealed victory with an Olympic record performance.
The Dutch athlete, 27, stormed to victory in the 1,000m event against defending champion Miho Takagi, 31, at the Milano Speed Skating Stadium in Italy. Leerdam clocked just over 26 seconds for one lap, and erased almost three tenths of a second off 25-year-old teammate Femke Kok's record 1:12.59 to claim gold, the first of the games for the Netherlands, in 1:12.31.
© DeFodi ImagesOrange clad took two spots on the Winter Olympic Games medal podium, with Japan's Miho having settled for bronze. Like Leerdam, her fiancé, YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul was in tears as he watched his flame make Olympic history from the spectator stands.
After his partner received her medal, Paul, 29, took to social media and shared a joyous photo of the couple celebrating. He captioned a shot of him carrying the Olympic champion as she bit into her accolade with, "We just witnessed one of the most important sporting moments ever. the doc will tell. words cant describe how proud of you i am."
"Juttttttttttaaaaaaaa. I can’t stop crying. ou did it, my love. Olympic Gold. God is great and so are you."
Paul, who popped the question in March 2025, also shared a video of the moment Leerdam clinched gold, in which he was overcome with emotion. Over the Instagram clip, he wrote, "MY BABY JUST SET THE OLYMPIC WORLD RECORD."
In the run up to the event, in which Leerdam sensationally upgraded the silver medal she won at Beijing 2022, Paul sent his lover a message of support on social media. He 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. "
© BSR AgencyPaul and Leerdam flirted on Instagram before they agreed to meet up for wine and dine action in Miami, Florida. The pair's romance blossomed, and they went public with their relationship in April 2023 with a sweet photo of Paul holding Leerdam's hand, which was shared on social media. He captioned the post with, "I’m Dutch now."
In a YouTube video, Paul declared Leerdam as "one of the most pure-hearted human beings that I have met in my life". He gushed, "I have a new girlfriend, which is pretty cool. It’s been so refreshing. She’s a world champion, and I’ve just been so amazed by her and her work ethic and how much of an angel she is."
"She’s one of the most pure-hearted human beings that I have met in my life, so genuine, and she has just changed my perspective and helped me coming out of this loss when I was in a dark place.”
© Arturo HolmesHe continued, “She really was there talking about her losses and was able to relate to those things and what I was going through. So she’s been such a blessing; Jutta, if you’re watching this … hi, you’re amazing."
