PREDAZZO, Italy (AP) — Evgeniy “Zhenya” Maloletka is an Associated Press staff photographer based in Kyiv, Ukraine. He has won numerous awards for his work covering the Russian invasion of Ukraine. He is covering his first Winter Olympics at the Milan Cortina Games.
For me any photograph, including this one, must convey a sense of presence and evoke emotion and feeling — both in the person who took it and the person who will see it.
It’s always good in a photo when there’s something unfamiliar, something new, something you might not have seen before. This makes you stop for a a second and forces you to think and analyze what you’re seeing.
In this case, the rain did a good job. My lens was covered in raindrops. At first, I considered removing them but once I saw what the effect was, I decided to leave them and use them in the photo. The result is as if your glasses are splattered with rain, and you’re forced to look into the light which creates glare from the tiny droplets.
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Kacper Tomasiak, of Poland, soars through the air during the ski jumping men's large hill individual at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Predazzo, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Evgeniy Maloletka)
MILAN (AP) — Olympic speedskating champions Jutta Leerdam and Jordan Stolz heard a rumor — one that was false at the time — that they had trained together. At first, they just joked about it. And then they decided to go and skate some laps with each other, just for fun.
After getting a silver medal in the women's 500 meters at the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Sunday to go alongside her earlier gold in the 1,000, Leerdam was asked about all of the noise around her, which includes extra attention because of her fiancé, YouTuber-turned-boxer Jake Paul.
“It's not easy, especially with the media and stuff, because they want stories. And if they don’t have stories, they make up stories. Sorry. Not everyone. So that is sometimes hard to deal with as an athlete if you just want to focus on skating fast,” said Leerdam, who is from the Netherlands. “That is something I hope maybe changes for future, other athletes, because it’s kind of hard to deal. But for me, I’m very good at dealing with it. Because just push it aside and focus on what I can do, which is skate fast.”
Then she was asked for an example of a made-up story during these Winter Olympics.
“Me training with Jordan Stolz. That wasn’t even a thing,” Leerdam said. “And then we were like, ‘Oh. We should maybe do that.’ So then we trained together.”
She said they discussed it while riding adjacent stationary bikes last week in Milan.
“We were like, ’Well, maybe I should do some laps behind you.' He was like, ‘Perfect. Fine,’” recounted Leerdam, who has millions of followers on social media.
So they got on the ice for some practice, with her trailing Stolz around the rink. The American has won gold medals in the men's 500 and 1,000 so far, and has two more events left at these Games.
“He’s super good at skating. I understand his timing when you skate behind someone. It can always help,” Leerdam said. “But my timing was already pretty set. And it was just for a few laps. It was just interesting that it was all made up — and it ended up working pretty well.”
Asked whether the people in her inner circle can handle the attention as well as she can, Leerdam said with a smile: “My parents and everyone is kind of used to it. My fiancé is definitely used to it. He loves it. He will use it for a good cause.”
AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
Jake Paul of the U.S. screams as his fiancée Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands celebrates with her silver medal on the podium of the women's 500 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Antonio Calanni)
Gold medallist Jordan Stolz of the U.S. celebrates after the men's 500 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Saturday, Feb. 14, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands took a silver medal in the women's 500 meters speedskating race at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Milan, Italy, Sunday, Feb. 15, 2026. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno)
