Jutta Leerdam congratulated her teammate on her gold medal. © ANSA / TERESA SUAREZ

Not Leerdam: Another Dutch woman triumphs

Dutch speed skater Femke Kok won gold in the 500m at the Olympic Games in Italy, thus striking back in the internal team duel with Jutta Leerdam.

February 15, 2026

From: dl

Kok ran an Olympic record of 36,49 seconds, distancing her competitor by more than half a second in front of Leerdam's famous fiancé, Jake Paul. Leerdam had previously triumphed over Kok in the 1.000-meter race. Bronze went once again to Japan's Miho Takagi.

Leerdam, who now has more than six million followers on Instagram, is engaged to US influencer Jake Paul. The 29-year-old Trump supporter has even more than 28 million followers on Instagram and is also known for his boxing matches. At the end of 2025, he lost to former world champion Anthony Joshua.

Femke Kok became Olympic champion in the 500 meters. © ANSA / ROBERT GHEMENT

Leerdam is one of the most dazzling personalities at these Winter Games. The glamour girl attracts attention not only on the ice. Especially off the ice, she repeatedly polarizes opinions. However, Kok stole the show in the 500 meters, winning convincingly by 0,66 seconds.

Vigl 24 – Trentino native narrowly misses medal

Italian Serena Pergher narrowly missed a medal, finishing fourth. To be precise, the 21-year-old from Trentino was just three hundredths of a second away from a medal.

Maybritt Vigl finished in 24th place. © ANSA / ROBERT GHEMENT

Maybritt Vigl, also from South Tyrol, was among the competitors. After finishing 25th in her Olympic debut in the 1.000 meters, the young athlete from Ritten improved her position by one place this time, finishing 24th in the 500-meter race. Vigl's time of 38,66 seconds was 2,17 seconds behind Kok's.