Speed skating-'Social media queen' Leerdam uses growing spotlight to inspire young girls

MILAN, Feb 15 : With more than six million Instagram followers and a growing spotlight on her, Olympic champion Jutta Leerdam said on Sunday that social media is not a distraction but a platform she hopes to use to inspire young girls to take up speed skating.

Leerdam delivered the Netherlands' first gold medal of the Milano Cortina Games on Monday, blazing to the women's 1,000 metres title in an Olympic record time of one minute 12.31 seconds. She followed it up on Sunday with a silver medal in the 500m, extending an already impressive Milano Cortina campaign.

Expectations were always high for the 27-year-old, twice a world single-distance champion in the 1,000m, representing the most successful speed-skating nation in Winter Games history.

Dutch fans have filled the Milano Speed Skating Stadium at every session, their sea of orange dominating the stands.

The venue has been star-studded every time Leerdam has taken to the ice. On Sunday, American rapper Snoop Dogg made an appearance in the stands, where he was rooting for Team USA, and on Monday her fiance - social-media-star-turned-boxer Jake Paul - watched emotionally as she crossed the line to claim gold.

Asked how she hopes to use her social media presence to promote speed skating, Leerdam told Reuters: "I, of course, have a following on social media. I really would like to inspire as many women and young girls as I can.

"So I try to make as much content as I can, because that way I can reach as many people. It's such an honour to do it. I feel so much support from everyone. And I feel all their energy and stuff."

For some, social media can be an escape; for others, a distraction. For Leerdam, it is neither.

"It's very helpful for me, actually," she added. "It's never been