The Netherlands has been performing strongly at the 2026 Winter Olympics, with Jutta Leerdam, Femke Kok and Xandra Velzeboer leading the charge among the female athletes. Kok and Leerdam each picked up a gold and a silver, while Velzeboer has collected two gold medals.
These results helped the Dutch team overtake the USA in the medal tally, with six golds to America’s five. Watching and cheering them on is track star Femke Bol, who has shown her support for her fellow Dutch athletes on social media.
Femke Bol Celebrates Femke Kok’s Gold and Jutta Leerdam’s Silver
On Sunday night, Dutch fans saw a 1-2 finish in the 500m speed skating event. Kok, skating later in the lineup, overtook Leerdam with an Olympic record time of 36.49s, while Leerdam finished with silver at 37.15s. It was a thrilling finish and a proud moment for the Dutch team, with Bol applauding both athletes online.
In an Instagram post celebrating Kok’s achievement, Team Netherlands’ official page shared the news. Bol reposted it on her own account, expressing her excitement: “🤩❤️🔥”. She also commented on Leerdam’s silver-winning post: “🤩🤩✨✨”.
After narrowly missing out on the 1000m gold to Leerdam a few days ago, Kok was determined to prove herself, and she did just that. In a post-race interview, she reflected on the pressure and excitement of her 500m performance:
“There was so much pressure and I really wanted to prove to everyone that I could do it. I was at the starting line in the last pair, so when you finish you know [straight away] if it’s enough or not. I was like: ‘I need to go as fast as I can to that finish line.’ The race was so good. I dreamed of it, but I didn’t know it was that fast,” the 25-year-old speed skater said.
Meanwhile, Leerdam faced her own challenges on the way to silver. The 2022 World Sprint Champion in the 500m and 1000m combined, revealed in an Instagram story that she had been sick and wasn’t sure how she managed the medal-winning performance: “What a day, I woke up sick yesterday. I don’t know how I pulled this off, but so happy I did!! 🤍🥈🥈”.
Earlier in the Games, Jens van ’t Wout had already secured two golds in the men’s 1000m and 1500m short-track events, adding to the Netherlands’ medal haul.
