Tomakomai Day 1: Japanese fans spoiled by their local heroes

The men’s team from the Netherlands, and the women’s team from Japan found themselves atop the podium at the second World cup of the season in the team pursuit. Nao Kodaira continued to dominate the 500m, while Tatsuya Shinhama found himself atop the podium in what was nearly a Japanese podium sweep.

By Maria Dalton

Photo by ISU Live Stream

The first day of racing in Tomakomai at the second World cup of the season saw skaters competing in the first of two 500m events as well as the team pursuit. The Japanese women continued to dominate, while others found the podium for the first time this season. New track records were established in all events raced today.

Shinhama, Kodaira atop the podium in the 500m

Tatsuya Shinhama set a new track record in the 500m on route to capturing the gold medal with his time of 35:450. Shinhama finished just ahead of his compatriot Yuma Murakami who finished with a time of 35:53. Jan Smeekens of the Netherlands rounded off the podium with his time of 35:58 to narrowly prevent a Japanese podium sweep. Ryohei Haga of Japan was fourth, on what was surely a thrilling day of racing for Japanese fans.

Nao Kodaira, the reigning Olympic champion in the 500m, continued to dominate the competition. Her time of 38:03 was nearly half a second faster than the second-place skater – quite a large margin when considering the speed of the 500m. Kodaira continues her dominant run in the distance, capturing her third gold medal of the season in the 500m and further extends her win streak. Vanessa Herzog of Austria once again finished just behind Kodaira with her time of 38.520. With her performance today, Herzog captures her third silver medal in the 500m of the season. Daria Kachanova of Russia rounded off the podium with her time of 38:820.

Netherlands, Japan win team pursuit

The Dutch team found themselves atop the podium in the men’s team pursuit, posting a time of 3:45.870 to give them their first win of the season in the event. Finishing in second place was the Norwegian team who improved upon their third-place finish from just a week ago in Obihiro. The trio of Norwegian skaters finished with a time of 3:47.150. The Japanese brought home their first medal of the season in the team pursuit with their time of 3:47.170. Rounding out the top-5 were the teams from Russia and Canada. The Russians failed to find the success they had last weekend, while the Canadian men saw no improvement from their fifth place finish a week ago.

The Japanese team comprised of Ayano Sato, Nana Takagi and Miho Takagi found themselves atop the podium on the women’s side for a second weekend. The reigning Olympic champions finished just shy of 4 seconds faster than the Canadians with a time of 3:02.370 and once again set a new track record. The Canadian trio of Ivanie Blondin, Isabelle Weidemann and Keri Morrison captured their first medals of the season with a silver medal finish today. The Russian skaters finished with a time of 3:06.690, to bring home their second bronze medal of the season in the women’s team pursuit event. The teams from the Netherlands and Italy rounded out the top-5.

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