BEIJING: Japan won the silver medal in the women’s speed skating team pursuit at the Beijing Winter Olympics on Tuesday.

The Japanese team was overtaken by the Canadian team just before crossing the goal line in the final, failing to win the second consecutive Olympic gold in the sport.

For Miho Takagi, the ace skater in the Japanese team, it is the third silver medal after ones in the women’s 1,500 meters and 500 meters.

Earlier in the day, Japan’s Kokomo Murase, 17, clinched a bronze medal in the women’s snowboarding big air, becoming the youngest-ever Japanese Winter Olympic medal winner to replace Mao Asada, who grabbed silver in the women’s figure skating singles in the 2010 Games at age 19.

Reira Iwabuchi and Miyabi Onitsuka, both from Japan, finished fourth and 11th, respectively, in the big air final.

Japan’s medal tally at the Beijing Games now stands at 13 — two golds, five silvers and six bronzes, tying the record for most winter medals marked at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games in South Korea.

JIJI Press