Guesswork about participating in the World Cup
Olympic star before the end of his career?
02/28/2026 – 8:19 a.mReading time: 1 min.
Jutta Leerdam celebrated several successes in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo. But now it is unclear whether she will continue. A sentence from her makes you sit up and take notice.
The Olympic Games in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo were extremely successful for speed skating star Jutta Leerdam: The 27-year-old won gold in the 1000 meters and also took home the silver medal in the 500 meters. Four years earlier, the Dutchwoman had won Olympic silver in the 1000 meters at the Games in Beijing.
But now the attention is turning to her future career after her Olympic successes – because there is increasing speculation that Leerdam could now end her successful career. The reason: Leerdam’s last sentence in her post. There she wrote: “Let us continue this journey called life and make the next chapter even more beautiful.”
A hint that the end of her career might be near? In addition, the Dutch association had actually awarded Leerdam a starting place at the Sprint World Championships (March 5th to March 8th) during the week – which rules out the star from starting at the national championships that are already taking place this weekend. The large Dutch daily newspaper “De Telegraaf” speculated about their future and also questioned their participation in the World Cup. It is not yet known whether Leerdam will actually still take part in the World Cup – or whether she will continue to retire.
