Jutta Leerdam race suit breaks MWS record, proceeds to support childhood club

Breaking records, on and off the ice.

Jutta Leerdam's race suit – worn during the Winter Games in Milan-Cortina – has set an MWS auction record of €195,000.

Throughout the Milano-Cortina games, signed items worn at the pinnacle of sport have been auctioned live, with net proceeds going directly to the grassroots clubs of TeamNL athletes that had a formative influence on their careers. Other auctioned items from the games include:

• Femke Kok’s race suit from her 500m gold and 1,000m silver

• The short-track suit worn as Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong took 1,500m gold

• Legend Kjeld Nuis’ bronze-clinching suit from his final-ever Games

• The suit of Jens van ’t Wout TeamNL’s gold in the men’s relay

Including Leerdam’s historic speed skating suit, the TeamNL auction from the Winter Games generated a total of €275,345.

At the Pijnacker ice skating club (IJVP), where Jutta Leerdam skated as a young girl, there is huge excitement following this record-breaking auction: “We are incredibly grateful,” said Chairman Johan van Dam.

“We see it as our responsibility to carefully consider how best to invest this remarkable sum.”

The club trains children weekly at the De Uithof indoor ice rink in The Hague, which also serves as the training base for the club’s core members. IJVP Youth Board Member Jacqueline van Winden added:

“This amount is truly significant for our club; it means we can offer even more children the opportunity to discover the joy of skating.”