King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima meet first Dutch medalists

King Willem-Alexander and Queen Máxima of the Netherlands met the first Dutch medalists of these Olympic Games.

The King and Queen had watched the 1,000m speedskating race, which was exciting until the very end. The gold medal went to Jutta Leerdam, who broke the Olympic Record, which had only just been set by the eventual silver medalist. The silver went to fellow Dutchwoman Femke Kok. The bronze medal went to the defending Olympic champion from Japan, Miho Takagi.

Wanneer je vlak voor de huldiging nog even de wedstrijd nabespreekt met Willem-Alexander en Máxima 😍🫶 pic.twitter.com/FZknXahq3d

— Staatsloterij TeamNL Huis (@TeamNLHuis) February 10, 2026

King Willem-Alexander praised the women, telling them, “Look, see those women doing it again.” He told them that without the women in the medal count, there would be very little left, even in the Summer Olympics. He added, “We just have a lot of very good women.”