02/07/26 01:49:00
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02/07 13:43 CST JD Vance and Jake Paul watch U.S. women's hockey team together
at the Winter Olympics
JD Vance and Jake Paul watch U.S. women's hockey team together at the Winter
Olympics
By JAMES ELLINGWORTH
AP Sports Writer
MILAN (AP) --- U.S. Vice President JD Vance sat with influencer and boxer Jake
Paul as they watched the U.S. women's hockey team ease to a 5-0 win over
Finland at the Winter Olympics on Saturday.
Vance and his family entered during the intermission at the end of the first
period, with the U.S. leading 1-0. Paul joined them shortly after. Paul's
fiancee Jutta Leerdam is a speedskater for the Netherlands at the Milan Cortina
Games.
Vance sat with his youngest child, daughter Mirabel, on his lap. Usha Vance,
wearing a sweatshirt with "USA" in big letters, clapped along to Queen's "We
Will Rock You," before the second period started.
The vice president and his wife stood and clapped when the U.S. women's team
scored a goal. They were back on their feet cheering a few minutes later when
the U.S. women scored again.
Among those seated near Vance were 2010 Olympic figure skating gold medalist
Evan Lysacek and hockey's twin sisters, Hall of Famers Jocelyne
Lamoureux-Davidson and Monique Lamoureux-Morando. They were members of the U.S.
gold medal-winning team at the 2018 Winter Games.
It's the second time that Vance has watched the U.S. women's team at the Milan
Cortina Winter Olympics.
He was also at the Milano Rho Ice Hockey Arena on Thursday, when the U.S. beat
Czechia 5-1 in its opening game of the preliminary round.
U.S. player Taylor Heise said it was "awesome" to hear that Vance and Paul were
at the rink, but she wasn't aware during the game.
"I know (teammate) Abbey Murphy wants to meet Jake Paul, so we'd love to set
that up," she said.
"None of us knew that they were here, actually," Heise added. "Just happy to be
playing, and whoever's there gets to watch the show, because I think we're
pretty good."
The U.S. players are especially familiar with Paul through his relationship
with Leerdam, who competes in speedskating against U.S. hockey captain Hilary
Knight's girlfriend Brittany Bowe.
"I know his fiancee, Jutta, we've watched her work out. She's phenomenal. We're
excited to go and watch her and obviously we're cheering on Brit Bowe," Heise
said.
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Michelle L. Price and John Wawrow contributed to this report.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
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