THE ASSOCIATED PRESS
February 17, 2022 at 19:20 JST
Miho Takagi competes during the women's speedskating 1,000-meter finals at the Beijing Olympics on Feb. 17. (AP Photo)
BEIJING--Miho Takagi won her fourth speedskating medal of the Beijing Games and the first individual gold of her career with an Olympic-record victory in the women’s 1,000 meters Thursday.
The silver went to Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands, while Brittany Bowe of the United States claimed the first individual medal of her career with a bronze.
Takagi added to silver medals in the 500, 1,500 and team pursuit at the Beijing Games--and especially sweet after losing a gold in the pursuit when her older sister, Nana, fell in the final turn with Japan leading.
Miho Takagi eclipsed her performance from the Pyeongchang Games four years ago, where she took gold in the team pursuit, silver in the 1,500 and bronze in the 1,000.
Takagi won with a time of 1 minute, 13.19 seconds, easily breaking the previous Olympic record of 1:13.56 set in 2018 by Jorien ter Mors.
Ter Mors did not get a chance to defend her title after failing to make the powerful Dutch team, but the Netherlands still came away with a medal.
Leerdam posted a time of 1:13.83 despite dragging her left hand on the ice to stay upright in a turn.
Bowe grabbed the bronze in 1:14.61, only 0.1 ahead Russian skater Angelina Golikova and a huge relief for the longtime star of the U.S. program.
Bowe's only medal over three Olympics had been a bronze in the team pursuit at the Pyeongchang Games.
The 2018 Games were especially excruciating for the 33-year-old former inline champion from Ocala, Florida. Bowe had one fourth-place showing and two fifths in her three individual events, missing out on three potential medals by a total of 0.85 seconds.
This time, the clock worked in her favor. Bowe edged out Golikova by a tenth of a second for the third spot on the podium.
Bowe's medal was the third at the Beijing Games for a much-improved American team--with all three ex-inline skaters from balmy Ocala contributing to the haul. Erin Jackson won the 500 meters, and Joey Mantia led a bronze-medal effort in the men's team pursuit.
The U.S. team won only one medal--total--at the last two Winter Olympics.
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