Jutta Leerdam does not have the 'striking blows' back on time: no gold in 1,000 meters

The disappointment was not to be missed: on her face, in her body language and in her words. What should have become a positive epilogue of a changeable 'mid -season', ran out on a fiasco for Jutta Leerdam: at the World Championship distances in Hamar, Norwegian, she finished 1,000 meters – her distance – third. The gold went to her great rival Miho Tagaki (Japan), Femke Kok won surprisingly silver.

« I think I just wanted too, » said Leerdam afterwards. « I was in a hurry, didn't stay quiet enough. I don't know what I had, but I didn't touch him at all.  »

Sprintster Leerdam (26) is always about the 'striking blows'. She is always strong and physically fit, she says, so the difference between winning and losing is in the good feeling in her success. Can she 'really touch' the ice? For her it is a continuous search for 'the technology', she says on the Wednesday before the World Cup in Hamar. « If I have it in order, I can lose all my strength and I will go hard. »

Solo to the Games

That search was extra complicated for Leerdam this season. A year ago she decided to go solo: she left, with the necessary noise, at the skating team of Jac Orie and started on her own on the route to the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d'Ampezzo.

Those Route without a commercial team Leerdam gave the opportunity to reunite with Kosta Poltavets, the Ukrainian-Dutch skating trainer with whom she has previously worked. He writes her schedules and guides her during competitions. To also be able to train with other riders, Leerdam did part of her training sessions (for a fee) with Novus, an international skating team.

Those who visited the Topsporturen Thialf in Heerenveen this season this season saw one lonely skater in their own outfit among the 'trains' of the commercial teams. On Leerdam's black skating suit: the name of her sponsor, a manufacturer of temporary houses from Venray in Limburg. Along the side: the petite, introverted trainer Poltavets.

The contrast is great with Leerdam's other life as an influencer (more than five million followers on Instagram), for which she got more space due to her solo construction. Her friend, the American boxer and YouTuber Jake Paul, regularly sits in the stands at her matches. Also this weekend in Hamar, as an official guest of the international skating association ISU. With three security guards, he wandered through the catacombs.

Changing shoes

This entire season Leerdam rode at its best and sometimes even below par. She changed shoes and irons, which had consequences for her performance. At the NK and European Championship Sprint she won gold, but those victories had limited expressiveness. Her real competitor in the 1,000 meters lives in Japan: Olympic champion Tagaki.

And that battle fell out this season for a long time to the disadvantage of Leerdam. At World Cup competitions, she was successively second, sixth, second, she fell and let them go once. Tagaki won each time. Only during the last World Cup, at the end of February in Heerenveen, did Leerdam be able to win a win in the 1,000 meters.

That strengthened her in the belief that she would have the 'striking blows' back at the right time. And that initially seemed to be the case: on Thursday she won Gold for the Netherlands with Suzanne Schulting and Angel Daleman on the team sprint, on Friday evening she surprisingly finished second in the 500 meters, behind Femke Kok.

Shaking head

Nevertheless, it turned out on the 1,000 meters differently on Saturday. Kok set the best time in ride two. It stopped until Tagaki was faster in the eleventh ride – despite a false start. In the last ride it was Leerdam, but it didn't get over it – and was even slower than cook. Shaking her head, she crossed the finish line.

Leerdam's conclusion Afterwards it was three days in a row at a World Cup had been a little too much of a good thing. « I think the line went down. »

The inevitable conclusion – that she never actually reached her best shape this season – did not want to draw Leerdam herself. She would rather say goodbye to a positive note: she had been « better than last season » this year. « Somehow I know I'm good enough. I can win today. I can just do something special. ” What nevertheless fell on? « I'm going to think about that for months now. »

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