Japanese speed skater Miho Takagi took gold in the 1,000 meters on Thursday, her first individual gold of her career and her fourth medal of the Beijing Games.
She previously won silver in the 500, 1,500 and team pursuit at the Beijing Games.
With a time of 1:13.19, Takagi easily broke the previous Olympic record of 1:13.56 set by Jorien ter Mores in 2018.
AN OLYMPIC RECORD!Miho Takagi takes GOLD in the women's 1000m! 🇯🇵 #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/9TCRak0s4a— NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 17, 2022
AN OLYMPIC RECORD!Miho Takagi takes GOLD in the women's 1000m! 🇯🇵 #WinterOlympics pic.twitter.com/9TCRak0s4a
Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands took silver with a time of 1:13.83 as Team USA’s Brittany Bowe claimed bronze in 1:14.61 – just 0.1 ahead of Russia’s Angelina Golikova.
“I’ve got a ton of emotions,” Bowe said afterward. “Honored, blessed, happy. Words can’t describe it. Thanks to the countless number of people encouraging me. It means so much, it’s been quite the journey.
“Everyone pushed me to the line to bring home that bronze.”
Previously, Bowe’s only medal over three Olympic Games had been a bronze medal in the team pursuit at the Pyeongchang Games.
It’s the third Olympic medal for Team USA at these games – Erin Jackson won gold in the 500 meters – after winning just one medal total in speed skating over the last two Winter Olympics.