Japan's Takagi wins 1000m speedskating gold at Beijing Olympics

By Can Erozden

ANKARA (AA) – Japanese speedskating athlete Miho Takagi on Thursday won a gold medal in the women's 1,000 meters at the Beijing Olympics.

Takagi, 27, scored a winning time of 1 minute, 13.19 seconds at National Speed Skating Oval, setting a new Olympic record as well.

Jorien ter Mors from the Netherlands was the previous record holder with 1:13:56 when the 32-year-old retired athlete set it at Pyeongchang 2018.

Dutch speedskater Jutta Leerdam was 0.64 seconds behind Takagi to bring home a silver medal.

Brittany Bowe of the US claimed bronze at Beijing 2022 as she came third in Thursday's event with a time of 1:14:61.

The Beijing Olympics is fruitful for Takagi as she added a gold to her three silver medals of the same games.

At 2022 Winter Games, Takagi was the silver medalist in women's 500 meters, 1,500 meters, and Team Pursuit events.

In total, Takagi has seven Olympic medals, including the three that she won in the previous games in South Korea's Pyeongchang.

The 2022 Winter Games will run through Feb. 20.