Jutta Leerdam’s skating suit unleashes auction bidding frenzy

Amateur skating clubs in the Netherlands are in for a windfall as skating suits worn by the record-breaking Dutch Olympic skating team are up for auction – and fetching champion prices.

The suit Jutta Leerdam was wearing when she won gold in the 1,000 metres is currently going, but by no means gone, for €7,602, while the outfit in which Femke Kok secured the gold stood at €3,302 by Tuesday morning.

The men’s suits seem to be less in demand, with three-time gold medal winner Rens van ’t Wout’s suit up for €1,100. The suit worn by Jorrit Bergsma – two golds at 40 – deserves to do better than €626.

Jutta Leerdam’s suit is the most coveted piece of clothing by far, as are other items she wore in Milan, such as a coat (almost €2,000) and a hairband (€1,000).

According to sports marketing expert Rowin Bouwmeester, the amounts offered for the clothing are unusual for the Netherlands. Football shirts at international auctions go for thousands of euros, he said, but over €7,000 for a skating suit is “very high”. “It’s what people will pay for a shirt worn by Lionel Messi in the final of the Champions League,” he told RTL Nieuws.

There are four days left to bid for Leerdam’s suit and the price may well go up, Bouwmeester said. “She was one of our most talked-about Olympians. The story behind her win makes her suit all the more valuable. And if she were to announce her retirement from skating in the next few days that would take it up another few notches,” he said.

At skating club De IJsvereniging in Pijnacker in Zuid-Holland, where Leerdam started her skating career, expectations are high. “We are completely overwhelmed,” board member Jaqueline van Winden said.

“We only heard very recently that the money from the auction will be coming our way. It’s a lovely gesture by the Olympic committee and great to see the money going back to the clubs where the champions began to develop their talent,” she said.