Speed skater Miho Takagi said Sunday she will leave Beijing proud of what she achieved and will not give another thought to her sister Nana's slip that cost Japan a gold medal in the team pursuit.
Five days after the crash denied Japan in its gold medal defense at the National Speed Skating Oval, the Japanese threesome -- Miho, Nana and Ayano Sato -- opened up about the low moments of their Olympics.
"I haven't gotten over the disappointment of missing out on a gold medal, but I'm proud to have competed as a member of this team," Miho said.
Miho, who took part in five events, had better luck in individual races, winning gold in the 1,000 and silver in the 500 and 1,500. She now has more medals than any other female Japanese Olympian in history.
In Tuesday's women's team pursuit final, Nana lost her balance on the final bend and went crashing into the padded wall at the edge of the "Ice Ribbon." Canada cruised across the line for an unlikely victory, while Nana was reduced to tears by her mistake.
Nana got up and managed to cross the finish line, but was more than 11 seconds behind Canada, leaving Japan with silver.
She tried to make amends in the mass start, but history repeated when she crashed out of the lead in her semifinal, and though she finished the race, her Olympics were over -- just not in the manner she had planned.
Related coverage:
Olympics: Japan's team pursuit title defense ends with fall on final bend
Olympics: Takagi crashes again, Sato 8th as Schouten wins mass start
"This was a very heartbreaking Olympics for me, but I want to turn life's stumbling blocks into stepping stones and hold my head high," Nana said.
"When I was struggling to sort out my feelings, my teammates, coaches and people in Japan offered consoling words and that helped me keep going and not give up. It was a silver medal that taught me a lot of important things."
Sato, who qualified for the mass start final and finished eighth, looked at the positives and said she was happy that the team got to show their unique style on the Beijing ice.
"It was a silver medal but we were able to produce beautiful, Japanese-style skating until the very end," Sato said.
With the world championships and the final leg of the World Cup coming up in March, the skaters will have little time to reflect on what happened in Beijing. But when they do get some downtime, they know how they are going to spend it.
Miho said she wants to go to the hair salon, while Nana and Sato said they want to indulge in some luxurious Japanese meals.
Related coverage:
Olympics: Ironwoman Miho Takagi says speed skating gold was team effort
Olympics: Miho Takagi finally gets Beijing gold in women's 1,000
Olympics: Takagi wins silver in 500 as Kodaira's defense falls short
