- Japan lost a shot at a gold medal in women's
speed skating team pursuit due to a late fall. - Though they led heading into the final corner of the race, Japan's Nana Takagi slipped.
The speed skating women's team pursuit finals were decided in heartbreaking fashion at the
Heading into the final turn of the gold medal race, Japan held a solid half-second lead over Canada, and looked set to take the top spot on the podium.
But just a few seconds shy of winning gold, Nana Takagi, who was the last woman back in Japan's train of three racers, slipped and crashed into the wall.
The winner of team pursuit is decided by which team gets three racers across the finish line first. With Takagi down on the ice, Japan's shot at gold was ruined in the final moments as Canada sent all three of its skaters across the line upright.
—NBC Olympics (@NBCOlympics) February 15, 2022
It was a heartbreaking turn of events for a Japanese team that appeared to have gold locked up.
Nana struggled to find words after her fall.
"When I took the lead position, I was skating really well," Nana said, per Reuters. "I thought I could hand off (the lead position) to my sister after skating what I thought were my very best laps out of the three races we had done so far, but then..." she added, her voice trailing off.
"It's very difficult to talk right now, I can't think very clearly," said Nana.
Nana's sister Miho Takagi, another member of the team, also was clearly dismayed.
"I think we're all dealing with our own emotions, but we're definitely frustrated that we couldn't win the gold medal," she told reporters.
Japan had set an Olympic record with their time in the semifinals, and were returning three skaters from the team that had won gold in the event four years earlier in Pyeongchang.
Unfortunately, Takagi's ill-timed slip meant the team missed out on their chance to repeat as gold medalists.