Leerdam is disappointed with miss, but is also proud of silver

Speed ​​skater Jutta Leerdam went for Olympic gold in the 1000 meters, but she had to settle for silver. It led to mixed feelings with the 23-year-old from South Holland.

“I wanted that gold, that’s why I’m disappointed. But I’m also proud”, Leerdam said, while the tears came. The sprinter was unable to put down a flawless race in Beijing’s National Speed ​​Skating Oval. She was hindered at the intersection by her American opponent Kimi Goetz, who crossed just in front. “I yelled: yo, I’m going past it, because I had so much speed. But then she already went and I had to go in right away. That’s why I didn’t quite take the time to enter the corner.”

Leerdam made a mistake in that corner and had to keep her hand on the ice to prevent her from falling. “I had so much speed, I felt I was going fast. It seemed as if I couldn’t keep that speed for a while, that’s why the miss came. But you can still win with a miss. So I had to continue, although I was actually disappointed during the race already. But my legs immediately burst with acid because of that miss and I lost so much speed. It was at least half a second shorter,” said Leerdam, who cursed strongly after the finish. She eventually finished second at 0.64 seconds behind Japanese winner Miho Takagi. “I am European champion and have silver at the Games, so I can look back positively on this year.”