Japan Women Skate to Team Pursuit Gold; Takagi, Sato, Newcomer Noake Secure Country’s 1st Win in 2 Yrs

The Yomiuri Shimbun

16:34 JST, November 17, 2025

SALT LAKE CITY — Two-time Olympic medalists Miho Takagi and Ayano Sato combined with newcomer Hana Noake to win the women’s team pursuit in the opening speed skating World Cup meet of the season on Sunday in Salt Lake City.

Paired with the powerful Netherlands — which won all three World Cup races last season — the trio clocked the fastest starting 200 meters of the meet and finished in 2 minutes 52.13 seconds for Japan’s first victory in two years.

Canada was second in 2:52.40 and the host United States third in 2:54.01. The Netherlands finished fifth.

The Japanese trio will be aiming to regain the Olympic gold that Takagi and Sato won at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics with Takagi’s sister Nana, after having to settle for the silver at the 2022 Beijing Games.

“It was the most nervous I have ever been in my life,” Noake said on being the new member. “I had no idea [how many laps we had done]. I only kept watching Miho.”