Jutta Leerdam breaks Olympic record with revolutionary suit

Jutta Leerdam crossed the finish line, looked at the scoreboard, and covered her face with her hands. It wasn't just gold. Leerdam has raised the bar for the entire sport. Behind this physical peak performance lies a story of years of training and years of engineering. One of the secrets: a super special, aerodynamic skating suit for TeamNL.

Leerdam clocked an astonishing time of 1:11.50, smashing the old Olympic record. That record had been held since 2022 by Japan's Nao Kodaira with a time of 1:11.80. Gold is the crowning glory of Leerdam's work. She has been working towards this specific moment in Milan for years.

The revolution of the hybrid suit

Leerdam won on her own merits, but she was helped a little by a piece of ingenious textile technology. TeamNL appeared in Milan in a brand-new ‘hybrid’ skating suit. This suit is considered by experts to be one of the greatest revolutions in skating history. It was developed by Sportconfex, led by director Bert van der Tuuk. The innovation lies in the structure of the fabric.

The suit consists of two layers on the arms and legs. The inner layer fits tightly against the skin and has vertical ridges. These ridges are exactly one centimeter apart. A second layer is stretched over this. This outer layer is so tight that it creates a kind of ‘skin’ between the ridges. Think of the skin of a drum kit. When the skater picks up speed, this skin starts to vibrate. The vibration creates turbulence around the skater's limbs. This turbulence causes the airflow to ‘stick’ to the body for longer. This drastically reduces air resistance. Calculations show that this suit is up to 8 percent faster than the outfits of the competition.

Four years of intensive research

The development of this suit was not a rush job. It is the result of four years of intensive research.

A total of €350,000 was invested in the project. This money was raised by a remarkable international coalition. The Olympic committees of the Netherlands, Italy, and Canada joined forces. They collaborated with the brightest minds at Eindhoven University of Technology and the University of Ottawa.

Leerdam was initially critical

Jutta Leerdam is known for her perfectionism. In the past, she was openly critical of TeamNL's clothing. In 2024, she expressed her dissatisfaction with the aesthetics of the Olympic collections. She did not like the designs and even suggested designing them herself. For Leerdam, ‘look and feel’ must come together. If she does not feel good in a suit, she cannot perform.

She was also skeptical about this new tech suit at first. The concept of a ‘vibrating’ suit sounds like science fiction. Nevertheless, she changed her mind. The data did not lie. After extensive testing in Thialf, she saw the figures. She felt the difference on the ice. In the run-up to the Games, she indicated that the suit had truly become ‘custom-made’. Her skepticism gave way to confidence. She realized that this piece of technology could give her that final push towards gold.