Jutta Leerdam has gained a ton of popularity after she and Jake Paul made their relationship public. She has been seen in the American boxer’s events, including his latest match against legend Mike Tyson. However, she has to make her schedule according to her travel, which has also been hectic for her, impacting her performance in speed skating events.

How so? Obviously, even for a great athlete like her, the human body cannot easily endure the luxury of constant travel, as everyone has their own physical limitations. The impact on her performance due to these factors was also clearly visible, as she recently participated in the FIS Speed Skating World Cup in Nagano and Beijing. However, the stark contrast between her two performances led her to openly express her significant struggles in the sport.

The problems that she needs to address

Even an athlete like Jutta Leerdam has her fair share of troubles in the sport that is speed skating. However, the 25-year-old isn’t shy about opening up about the issues to the public. The performances from Nagano to Beijing had their own differences. The two events saw two completely different Leerdam, owing to the results. 

The Dutch speed skater appeared in the World Cup match in Nagano, Japan, after attending her boyfriend’s boxing game in Arlington, Texas. Surely, it was a long flight, and it didn’t allow her to train to her best form. This resulted in Leerdam settling for only seventh and thirteenth in the 500m sprint. It was a big setback, but in the same place, she also secured a silver in the 1000m.

While the Japanese event saw an underperforming Leerdam, in Beijing, China, she made her redemption with an epic silver medal performance in the 500m sprint. This was a huge improvement for the first round and gave her much confidence for the upcoming second round of the 500m on Sunday. “I skated better than last week. It went pretty well, very nice,” said Leerdam, as reported by NU.nl, and continued, stating, “The bend could have been better, but I hit it well on the straights. That’s also good for the 1,000 meters tomorrow.”

Furthermore, while giving her thoughts on her performance, she revealed a certain detail, stating, “Last week I was struggling with my feet. I wasn’t in the race. I worked on it a lot this week. I noticed during the warm-up that I can collapse with my ankle again. That makes a difference of almost a second, I think.” After her performance in Nagano, she was aware of the issue. However, the moment she worked on it, Beijing was the stage that saw the Dutch speed skater’s dominant form, where she secured a silver medal with a time of 37.86 seconds.

Once she gets done with her ankle problem completely, that will be the day she can give her 100% in the sprints. However, the work is in progress, and she has also improved a lot from the performance she was putting in before. The second half of the 500m sprint in Beijing will be hosted on Sunday, and the speed skater is already preparing for it. Just like this time, she has acknowledged her troubles and worked on them; she has done it before too, as she knows the importance of feedback in her sport.

Jutta Leerdam acknowledging her mistakes

In the Chinese capital, Jutta Leerdam was a beast, challenging the grid for the podium positions. Eventually, she did place second for a silver medal behind Japanese skater Yukino Yoshida. The whole performance was a major upgrade from what the audience saw of her in Nagano, Japan. However, during a post-race interview, she stated, “I was closer to gold yesterday than expected. I think I’m at 75 or 80 percent. The speed is still lacking.”

She has been traveling a lot recently, and before the match in Nagano, she had to attend her boyfriend’s boxing game. Even if she did miss out on her training, she gave a good challenge out there, but it wasn’t enough for a medal performance. But her performance in Beijing made her realize about her mistakes and decisions that she needs to be more focused ahead of the 2026 Winter Olympics. The 25-year-old is also aware of the doubts from the fanbase regarding her inconstancy in her speed skating, but it is something she is working on, and she will be on top in no time.