Milano Cortina 2026: Japan’s Speed Skater Takagi Sinks to 6th in 1,500

The Yomiuri Shimbun

12:30 JST, February 21, 2026

Speed skater Miho Takagi, who aimed for gold in the women’s 1,500 meters at the Milano Cortina Olympics, ended up finishing sixth on Friday after losing momentum in the final lap.

The Netherland’s Antoinette Rijpma-de Jong won the gold medal in 1 minute 54.09 seconds.

For the 31-year-old Takagi, who made her Olympic debut at 15 at the 2010 Vancouver Games, the 1,500 meters has always been a special event. As the world record holder in this distance, she had been aiming for gold after settling for silver at the previous two Games.

Takagi set off in the 15th and final pair, skating aggressively from the start. She passed all the 300-, 700- and 1,100-meter marks as the second fastest overall. However, she lost her momentum in the final lap, taking 32 seconds to complete it before crossing the finish line at 1:54.865, which was behind her time at Beijing 2022.

Asked about how she was feeling in a post-race interview, Takagi replied, “It’s hard to describe in words what I’m feeling.”

Earlier at Milano Cortina, Takagi won bronze medals in the women’s 500 meters and 1,000 meters, as well as the team pursuit.