Skating team IKO from Groningen roped in Jutta Leerdam. Dream team with world champion Joy Beune

Leerdam was looking for a new team when it turned out that she could not achieve her ambitions at Jumbo. There, if it were to be a contract extension, she wanted, in addition to the attention of coach Jac Orie, someone in the coaching staff who would “challenge her extremely technically from a skating perspective.”

She recently said: “I missed that at Jumbo. It felt too safe for me. With Jac the emphasis is more on the basics, I come from a background where the vision was different and more specific. It went well for a while, but for now I need something extra.”

When Jumbo did not like that requirement, Leerdam decided to look elsewhere. She contacted the Groningen brothers Ten Hove, whom she knew from the 2018-2019 season, when she was able to sign up for an internship contract with their IKO. The skater from ‘s-Gravezande was 19 years old at the time. At the time, an internship contract meant a skating suit, training camp and coaching.

Tricky subject

At that one reacquaintance the brothers immediately shouted in unison: ‘But we cannot afford an athlete of your caliber.’ Martin ten Hove recently explained this when the Leerdam camp contacted Team IKO: “We indeed do not have the budget for an athlete of this outer category. But her manager immediately made it clear that Jutta is not going for the finances for the next two years, she only wants Olympic gold. Everything must give way to that. She is looking for an environment that IKO can offer her.”

The sensitive subject of Kosta Poltavets was also discussed. Leerdam would prefer to work with her old coach again. The skating coach, who fled from Ukraine in the 1990s and has since lived in Heerenveen, guided Leerdam to the world title in the sprint four-way event in 2022. The Ten Hove brothers do not like the arrival of a new trainer. Leerdam’s demand is therefore not met.

Sort of a reunion

IKO believes its own technical staff is broad enough. After Leerdam was explained how the team works today, she and her manager took some time to think about it. That is now over, Leerdam will sign with IKO this week, as expected.

So there is talk of some kind of reunion. When, as a late teenager, Leerdam became the first woman ever to complete a 26-second lap in the 1000 meters in Thiaf in the 2018-2019 season, she did so in IKO colours. She won that World Cup Qualifying Tournament and after that there was no stopping her. Because she did not have a full contract, Team Reggeborgh was able to recruit her after that season. She won Leerdam’s first world title in the 1000 meters with Gerard van Velde, Reggeborgh’s coach. The rest is history.

Will Leerdam come in consultation with Beune?

The question remains whether Leerdam’s arrival has been discussed with Joy Beune, the blonde figurehead of IKO since last season after she had won two sensational world titles. First the 5000 meters, during the World Championship distances in Calgary when she completely unexpectedly defeated Irene Schouten in – what would later turn out to be – his last long track race. A few weeks later in Inzell, Beune added the world all-round title.

To be clear: Beune and Leerdam will not become competitors of each other. Tukkerse, who has just turned 25, has been focusing on the longest distances in long track skating for years, Leerdam is a sprinter by profession. In short, Team IKO now resembles a dream team with the country’s most famous female speed skaters, with which the Belgian Olympic champion Bart Swings is also under contract and with whom sprinter Dai Dai Ntab (also ex-Jumbo) entered into a commitment last week. with the Milan 2026 Winter Games.

Whether any agreements have been made regarding Leerdam’s commercial activities will become clear later this week. Both the IKO camp and the Leerdam camp do not want to confirm the news yet because no signature has been signed yet. Next weekend, Team IKO will fly to Tuscany, Italy, for the first joint training camp. It is almost impossible to miss that Leerdam and Beune are on the same plane.