Japan’s Miho Takagi yesterday clinched her first gold of the Beijing Olympics, following up on the three silver medals she had already won at the Games, as she sailed to victory in the women’s 1,000m speedskating.
Takagi kept close to the pace set by silver medalist Jutta Leerdam at the onset of the race.
Despite falling behind at one point, she breezed through the final lap half a second ahead of Leerdam’s time and crossed the finish line in an Olympic record of 1 minute, 13.19 seconds.
Photo: AFP
On seeing her record time at the finish line, the 27-year-old punched the air in delight.
Leerdam had hoped to follow in the footsteps of compatriot and previous champion Jorien ter Mors to win gold.
She was gliding effortlessly through her laps, at times ahead of the Olympic record, but almost slipped on a corner, wobbling dangerously and touching the ice before powering through to finish her distance.
She could be seen shaking her head slightly after completing the distance in 1:13.83.
“I’m happy, but after the race, I was a little sad with my corner that cost me some seconds,” Leerdam said.
“I had too much speed and wasn’t used to it. I just thought: ‘Oh’, and hammered one more lap,” she said after her race.
Leerdam claimed silver, while world record holder Brittany Bowe of the US took bronze in 1:14.61.
HUANG YU-TING
Taiwan’s Huang Yu-ting finished in 24th place with a time of 1:17.35, which was 4.16 seconds off the gold-medal pace.
Takagi, who clocked the fastest time this season of 1:11.83, has won two individual medals in Beijing, finishing second in the 1,500m behind Wust and winning a surprise silver in the 500m.
The gold medal appeared to be just within reach as she raced ahead of her Canadian rivals toward the finish line in the women’s team pursuit, until a fall by her sister and teammate Nana Takagi cost them the title and landed them with a silver medal instead.
That silver medal, which was accepted solemnly amid tears, was the sixth of Takagi’s career and made her the most decorated Japanese female Olympian.
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