![\"Jutta](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/jutta-leerdam.jpg\")
<\/p>\nDutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam has sparked controversy after opting to travel to the Milan Winter Olympics aboard a private jet rather than joining her national teammates for the journey.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old, who claimed silver at the Beijing Games four years ago, shared footage and photographs of her luxurious flight on Instagram, featuring personalised decorations, cupcakes bearing her image, a television screen displaying her picture, and an upmarket meal.<\/p>\n
Her fianc\u00e9, YouTuber and boxer Jake Paul, responded to the post with an encouraging message: “Time to shine.”<\/p>\n
Leerdam’s decision to shun the team transport has drawn sharp criticism from Dutch commentators ahead of her Olympic campaign.<\/p>\n
Johan Lerksen, a former professional footballer who now works as a television pundit, branded Leerdam a “diva” for her refusal to travel alongside the Dutch squad.<\/p>\n
“She should want it of her own accord. She’s already living like a millionaire, with private jets and everything. Her behaviour is horrible to me, like that of a diva,” Lerksen said.<\/p>\n
The pundit suggested that coaching staff ought to take a firmer stance with the athlete.<\/p>\n
“If I were her coach, I wouldn’t tolerate that. Gradually, the whole of the Netherlands is starting to get a bit fed up with her behaviour,” he added.<\/p>\n
The criticism comes as Leerdam prepares to defend her Olympic medal credentials in Milan.<\/p>\n
The 27-year-old is scheduled to compete in the women’s 1000-metre speed skating event on Monday, with the 500-metre race to follow later in the Games.<\/p>\n
Jutta Leerdam will compete for the Netherlands at the Winter Olympics<\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
Her participation in the longer distance event was thrown into doubt after she suffered a fall during the qualifying race in December.<\/p>\n
Despite the setback, Dutch selection officials chose to award her the remaining spot in the 1000-metre competition following an impressive performance in the 500-metre qualifier.<\/p>\n
The KNSB, the Dutch skating federation, determined that Leerdam merited inclusion after she secured her place among the nine Dutch women who qualified through the shorter distance event.<\/p>\n
Leerdam expressed her gratitude on social media after learning of her Olympic selection, writing: “See you in Milan for the 500 and 1000m!!!<\/p>\n
“After my fall in the 1000m, I refocused, bounced back and qualified for the 500m.”<\/p>\n
![\"Jake](\"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/jake-paul-and-jutta-leerdam.jpg\")
Jake Paul and Jake Paul got engaged last year<\/p>\n
| GETTY<\/p>\n
She noted that her inclusion in the 1000-metre event did not come at the expense of another competitor, adding: “What makes me happiest is that this decision doesn’t affect any other woman in the process.<\/p>\n
“So grateful that everything worked out.”<\/p>\n
The speed skater began her relationship with Paul in 2023, and the couple announced their engagement the following year during a celebration on the Caribbean island of St Lucia.<\/p>\n
Her engagement ring has reportedly been valued at more than \u00a3700,000.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Dutch speed skater Jutta Leerdam has sparked controversy after opting to travel to the Milan Winter Olympics aboard…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":284576,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[32],"tags":[321,93,61,60,43,40822,850,90,2508,23196],"class_list":["post-284575","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-celebrities","tag-celebrities","tag-entertainment","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-news","tag-sgg","tag-sport","tag-us","tag-us-news","tag-winter-olympics"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284575","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=284575"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/284575\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/284576"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=284575"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=284575"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=284575"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}