Japanese Skater Nana Takagi Wins Mass Start Gold; LS Kitami Curling Bronze

February 25, 2018

Pyeongchang, South Korea- Japan's Nana Takagi on Saturday won a gold medal in the women's speed skating mass start event in the Pyeongchang Olympics in South Korea, while LS Kitami, which took part in the Winter Games as Japan's national team for women's curling, earned a bronze medal.

Speed skating mass start became an Olympic event for the first time at the Pyeongchang Games.

Takagi won her second gold medal in the Pyeongchang Games. She claimed the first gold on Wednesday in the women's speed skating team pursuit event.

She is the first Japanese female athlete ever to claim multiple gold medals in a single Winter Olympics. "I've never won a gold medal in mass start before," Takagi said. "I'm really happy as I can stand on the top of the podium."

In a message posted on Instagram, Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe congratulated Takagi on her second gold, saying: "Two golds (won by a Japanese female athlete in a Winter Olympics) are historic. Her spurt on the final lap was overwhelming!"

LS Kitami, from the city of Kitami in the northernmost Japan prefecture of Hokkaido and comprising Satsuki Fujisawa, who served as the skip, Yurika Yoshida, Yumi Suzuki, Chinami Yoshida and Mari Motohashi, beat the British national team 5-3 in the third-place match for women's curling on Saturday, after losing to South Korea in a semifinal match 8-7 on Friday.

It is the first time for Japan to earn an Olympic medal for curling.

"My last shot was not good, so I thought we lost," Fujisawa said after the match with Britain. "But we made it, and it was really good although I could not believe it," she said.

"I want to thank everyone--our staff and coach, and supporters," Motohashi said.

The number of medals earned by Japan in the Pyeongchang Games now stands at 13, a record for the nation in the history of the Winter Olympics. The 13 break down into four golds, five silvers and four bronzes.

The previous record of 10 medals, including five golds, was marked at the 1998 Nagano Games in Japan.

Of the 13 Pyeongchang medals for Japan, six--three golds, two silvers and one bronze--were won in speed skating events. Jiji Press