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The uniform worn by Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands, the gold medalist in the women's 1000m speed skating at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, was sold for approximately 330 million won.
On March 1 (local time), Dutch media outlet NL Times reported that Leerdam's signed Olympic race uniform was auctioned off for 195,000 euros (about 333.64 million won).
Earlier, Reisdam won the gold medal in the women's 1000m race held last month in Milan, Italy, setting a new Olympic record of 1 minute 12.31 seconds. Immediately after confirming his victory, he performed a celebration by unzipping the top of his sportswear, during which a white sports bra was revealed, drawing significant attention. Photo by Reuters Yonhap News
The auction was jointly organized by the Netherlands Olympic Committee and the sports uniform auction platform MatchWornShirt, featuring items donated by national Olympic athletes. Just an hour before the auction closed, the price of the uniform had not even reached 10,000 euros, but a fierce bidding war between two participants in the final moments sent the price soaring, resulting in a winning bid close to 200,000 euros.
Tijsmen Zonderwijk, CEO of MatchWornShirt, told local media, "Such an amount is very unusual for a single item," adding, "Leerdam's race suit set the highest price ever on our platform." He also noted, "Even the uniform of global football star Cristiano Ronaldo has never sold for this much." While the identity of the winning bidder was not disclosed, the auction platform stated that the individual is of Dutch nationality. Most of the proceeds from the sale will be donated to the skating club where Leerdam trained as a child.
The uniform worn by Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands, the gold medalist in the women's 1000m speed skating at the 2026 Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo Winter Olympics, was sold for approximately 330 million Korean won. Photo by AP News.
Earlier, Leerdam had won the gold medal in the women's 1000m event held last month in Milan, Italy, setting a new Olympic record of 1 minute 12.31 seconds. Immediately after her victory was confirmed, she celebrated by unzipping the top of her racing suit, and the moment when her white sports bra was revealed drew significant attention.
The UK media outlet The Sun, citing marketing experts, reported that the moment generated major promotional impact for sports brand Nike through social media, estimating the marketing value to be around 1 million US dollars (approximately 1.4 billion won).
Meanwhile, Leerdam also faced controversy over her attitude after she arrived in Milan on her boyfriend's private jet and posted on social media about watching the Olympic opening ceremony from her accommodation instead of attending in person.
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