Jutta Leerdam is poised to earn over $1 million after an unexpected celebration following her Gold medal win.
The 27-year-old Dutch speed skater, engaged to influencer Jake Paul, secured first place in the women’s 1,000-meter speed skating race on February 9.
Leerdam set a new Olympic record in the 1,000 meters with a time of 1:12.31, earning her the gold medal.
Her impressive feat quickly went viral after her victory. Emotional, Leerdam unzipped her orange and blue racing suit to reveal a white Nike sports bra.
She then skated around the ice rink to the cheers and applause of the audience.
Nike noticed this and quickly edited and shared a photo of the Gold medalist celebrating her win.
“When you’re this fast, you don’t ask for permission,” the brand captioned the photo.
“Jutta Leerdam breaks the Olympic record in the Speed Skating 1000m and wins her first Gold.”
This detail is significant because Nike’s post seems to allude to the fact that the Netherlands Winter Olympic official merchandise sponsor is FILA. Nevertheless, Leerdam opted to display a Nike sports bra prominently.
Advertising specialists now forecast that this decision could lead to lucrative partnerships for her.
Advertising expert Frederique de Laat, founder of the female athlete marketing agency Branthlete, anticipates a substantial financial gain for Leerdam following this move.
“With Nike, I suspect you’re looking at a figure of over a million,” she mentioned to Dutch publication AD.
Leerdam’s Instagram account boasts over six million followers, a number likely to grow after her participation in the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan.
As she celebrated her Gold medal, Jake Paul was visibly moved, shedding tears of pride. Leerdam approached the sideboards, blew a kiss, and formed a heart shape with her hands for Paul.
The couple publicly confirmed their relationship in April 2023, after the former Disney Channel star initially reached out to her via Instagram DMs, inviting the world champion onto his podcast.
“I never, ever expected to date him, like never,” Leerdam disclosed in the Countdown: Paul vs. Tyson documentary. “Of course, I didn’t know a lot about him. I could only scroll on his Instagram and form an opinion like the whole world does. But he is the complete opposite.”
Paul proposed to Leerdam in March of last year during a trip to St Lucia. They shared the news in a joint Instagram post, expressing their excitement to ‘spend forever together’.