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Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam left the track in tears Friday after crashing out of the 1000m event at the Olympic trials — with her fate for the 2026 Milano Cortina Games in Italy now up in the air.
Leerdam, who won silver in her signature 1000m event at the 2022 Beijing Games, slid into the boards after losing her balance on the second bend, according to Olympics.com, as her fiancé, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul, looked on from the Thialf in Heerenveen, Netherlands.
“I’m skating so well in practice. What those girls are skating here, I could have easily skated today,” Leerdam, 26, said.
“I’ve skated 1:14 here 25 times, and I feel even better now than I have in the past two years.”
Leerdam’s teammates, Femke Kok and Suzanne Schulting, secured bids to February’s Olympics with finishes of 1:14.08 and 1:14.71, respectively.
The national selection committee will now determine if Leerdam will participate in the Winter Games. A decision is expected in early January, per Olympics.com.
Friday’s event came on the heels of a 1000m victory for Leerdam at the ISU Speed Skating World Cup earlier this month.
It’s been a year to remember for Leerdam, who announced her engagement to Paul, 28, in March.
“We can’t wait to spend forever together,” she gushed on Instagram at the time.
The couple has been together since 2022.
Paul’s appearance Friday came days after his highly hyped clash against Anthony Joshua in Miami, where Joshua knocked him out in the sixth round.
Despite the outcome, which included a double broken jaw, Paul was feeling optimistic about what’s next.
“I’m feeling good. That was fun. I love this sport and I had a blast,” Paul said post-match.
He recently disclosed he has “baby fever.”
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