Jake Paul’s fiancee Jutta Leerdam left Dutch Olympic Trials in tears on Friday after crashing out of her signature event and failing to qualify for the winter games in Milan in February.
The 26-year-old Leerdam, an Olympic silver medalist in Beijing 2022, agonizingly fell into a barrier in the 1000m distance – her strongest competition – and did not finish.
It means she needs to now rely on the national selection committee to pick her to compete for her country next year.
‘I’m skating so well in practice. What those girls are skating here, I could have easily skated today,’ Leerdam said after teammates Femke Kok and Suzanne Schulting capitalized on her error to secure their places at the upcoming games.
‘I’ve won the past World Cups. I’ve always been at least in the top two at the world level. I hope they (the selection committee) will look at my level, including today, how I was skating before I fell, and the growth I’m making.’
Her partner Paul was watching on from the stands a week after having his jaw broken in two places in his fight against British heavyweight boxer Anthony Joshua.
Jake Paul’s fiancee Jutta Leerdam left Dutch Olympic Trials in tears after crashing
Paul watched from the stands, a week after taking a nasty defeat in his Anthony Joshua fight
The 26-year-old Leerdam was visibly upset at what could prove to be a really costly error
A devastated Leerdam was at a loss for words to explain how she slipped and crashed into the barrier.
‘I don’t know if there was anything on the ice, but it felt like I was standing on something. I completely slid,’ she said.
Days earlier, in a short interview after the Joshua fight with his brother Logan, Jake said how much he was looking forward to cheering Leerdam on at the Winter Olympics.
Talking about what the near future holds, Paul said: ‘I’m going to take some time off to go support Jutta [Leerdam] at the Olympics.
‘Then she’s going to move to Puerto Rico (where Paul lives). Move her here. Maybe go snowboarding or something.’
But now those plans have been left hanging by a thread.
In a plea to the skating authorities that will decide her fate, Leerdam added: ‘I really belong at these Games. I feel so good, I’m skating so well, I’m opening so hard.
‘And this is truly the most frustrating moment for this to happen, because I almost never fall. I really want to win that medal for the Netherlands.’
Paul took six rounds of punishment at the hands of Joshua last Friday night in Miami
Paul and Leerdam have been together since 2023, after Paul messaged her with an invite to appear on his podcast.
‘I never, ever expected to date him, like never,’ Leerdam said on the documentary profiling Paul’s fight against Mike Tyson.
‘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, who had four plates inserted into his broken jaw and lost teeth during the procedure, told his brother after the Joshua fight that we wants a family sooner than later.
He had to go in for surgery soon after the fight and lost teeth in the procedure on his jaw
‘I feel ready bro, I have such baby fever,’ he said. ‘Like I want kids so bad.’
The couple announced back in March that they had gotten engaged.
Paul earned an estimated $92million from the Joshua fight, which lasted six rounds in Miami, and insisted that he is going to remain in fighting despite such a painful loss.
‘I did have fun. I love this sport and I love this job, it doesn’t even feel like a job. This sport has done so much for me,’ he said.
