Olympic officials respond after Jutta Lerdman ‘earned $1 million’ for showing her bra during gold medal celebration
Olympic officials have responded after speed skater Jutta Leerdam revealed her sports bra while celebrating her gold medal win.
The athlete, who is engaged to social media star Jake Paul, took the top spot in the 1000m speed skating competition at the Winter Olympics in Italy on 9 February.
While celebrating, she unzipped her orange and blue racing suit and revealed a white Nike sports bra.
Marketing and industry professionals had predicted Leerdam could rake in a million dollar deal thanks to her promoting the brand, especially when the skating suits are made by FILA.
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A delighted Nike shared a photograph of her celebrating to their 298 million Instagram followers, and many had feared the speed skater would face punishment as the International Olympic Committee (IOC) has strict rules about athletes promoting products during the Games.
“When you’re this fast, you don’t ask for permission,” Nike wrote in the caption.
“Jutta Leerdam breaks the Olympic record in the Speed Skating 1000m and wins her first Gold.”
It was thought that the decision to show the bra and branding would be in breach of the strict rules, however, the IOC has now confirmed that there was no issue with her actions.
It has been confirmed that Leerdam will not face any sanctions following the viral moment, with IOC TMS Managing Director Anne-Sophie Voumard saying her actions were ‘normal practice’ given the restrictive nature of their outfits.
Voumard said: "I'm not an expert in speed skating, but I understand this (unzipping the uniform after a race) is normal practice for speed skaters when they finish their race because the suit is very tight. It is normal practice and not a case of ambush (marketing)."
Leerdam also has more than 6 million followers on Instagram, and the IOC is said to be delighted by the way she has been promoting the Winter Olympics.
The star flashed a Hermès Birkin handbag she bought after winning gold, and regularly documents her jetsetting life with boxer Jake Paul.
Paul celebrated her win on his social media, and shared videos of her win with the caption: “I’M SO PROUD OF YOU,” and “MY BABY JUST SET THE OLYMPIC WORLD RECORD.”
He wrote: “We just witnessed one of the most important sporting moments ever. The doc will tell. Words can’t describe how proud of you I am.”
Back in 2024, the IOC revised rules on filming content during the games.
IOC Director of the Athletes' Department, Kaveh Mehrabi, said: "Athletes have generated over 1.3billion social engagements. That's about half a million per athlete, and we are super proud they want to show their own experience.”
"We changed the guidelines since Paris (2024 Olympic Games), allowing athletes to show their experience first-hand."
One marketing expert, Frederique de Laat told Dutch publication AD: "With Nike, I suspect you’re looking at a figure of over a million.”
Jen Thomas