Jutta Leerdam
Jutta Leerdam is a Dutch speed skater who has gained attention for her athletic achievements on the ice. However, unfortunately, some media outlets have chosen to focus on her appearance rather than her athletic ability, sexualizing her in the process. In various media she is often called the ‘World’s hottest speed skater’ and a lot of sport blogs that are often focusing on men are sexualizing her content. The YouTube-channel FS United, mostly known for posting bloopers, posted a video of Jutta with a zipped open skating suit. The problem is that the channel edited her breasts and therefore they seem rather inflated as soon as she unzips her suit.
It’s important to shift the focus back to the athlete’s achievements and the hard work she put in to reach her goals, rather than reducing her to her looks. Jutta Leerdam deserves to be celebrated for her athletic accomplishments, not objectified for her appearance. Luckily not all media attention is negative or sexualized. Lately, Jutta is in the news a lot because of the things she stands for. The Dutch speed skater has been open about her struggles with her body and weight.
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She revealed in an interview with De Telegraaf that she started obsessively losing weight when she was 16 years old and it became a game for her. She realized that she was eating too little while training hard, leading to an unhealthy drop in her body fat percentage and physical consequences. Leerdam thought extreme weight loss would help her on the ice, but it was counterproductive, and she struggled with stress and weight gain in the winter season. She wants to spread awareness of the negative effects of not eating enough and the pressure on athletes to maintain a certain weight.
