Japanese Speed Skater Takagi Wins 2nd Medal at Milan-Cortina

Milan, Feb. 15 (Jiji Press)–Japan’s Miho Takagi won bronze in the women’s 500-meter speed skating event at the Milan-Cortina Olympics on Sunday, clinching her second medal at the ongoing Winter Games. She secured bronze in the women’s 1,000-meter event Monday. With the latest feat, Takagi, who won silver in the 500-meter event at the previous 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, now holds the highest career medal tally for a Japanese Winter Olympian, at nine. Speaking to the press after Sunday’s event, Takagi said, “While I finished one place lower than at Beijing, I didn’t expect things would go so smoothly for me this time.” “I’m delighted that I managed to secure a medal despite all that,” she added. “I was encouraged by people cheering me on in Japanese (during the race), so I wanted to say thank you to each and every one of them.” Japan’s total medal count at the Milan-Cortina Games came to 17, just shy of its record high of 18 for any Winter Olympic Games, set at the 2022 Beijing Games. Elsewhere in the ongoing massive sporting event, Japanese ski jumper Nozomi Maruyama ended eighth in the women’s large hill individual event. In women’s curling, Japan’s team Fortius lost to South Korea, bringing is first-round record to one win and four losses. END [Copyright The Jiji Press, Ltd.]