By Sean Miyaguchi,
Japan's Olympic title defense in the women's speed skating team pursuit ended in tragedy Tuesday at the Beijing Games after Nana Takagi fell on the last bend of the final, handing the gold medal to Canada.
The three-woman team of Ayano Sato, Miho Takagi and her older sister Nana came into the final at the National Speed Skating Oval looking to repeat as Olympic champions after winning four years ago in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
Having advanced to the gold medal race with a big semifinal win over the Russian Olympic Committee earlier in the day, Japan led Canada at every split and looked on course for a new Olympic record.
But disaster struck with the finish line in sight, when the elder Takagi lost her footing coming around the last bend and careened into the wall.
The Canadian team of Ivanie Blondin, Valerie Maltais and Isabelle Weidemann finished in an Olympic record time of 2 minutes, 53.44 seconds, with the final Japanese skater eventually crossing the line 11.03 seconds later.
Canada's time overwrote the previous Olympic record of 2:53.61 set by Japan three days earlier in the quarterfinals.
The Netherlands rounded out the podium, clocking 2:56.86 to beat the Russian Olympic Committee by 1.80 seconds in the bronze medal race.
The defending champions got off to a fast start in the final at the "Ice Ribbon" and led Canada by nearly a second after the first lap.
The Canadian trio worked to narrow the gap as the race progressed, closing to within 0.32 second at the final split, but Japan still appeared set for victory until the mishap.
A devastated Nana could not hold back tears as she tried to come to terms with the race.
"It was the very end," she said. "If I hadn't fallen, it looked like we had a winning time. I'm so disappointed."
As the jubilant Canadian team skated a victory lap, Japanese Olympic team captain Miho comforted her sister by the trackside.
"I couldn't find the words to tell her at that moment, I just wanted to be close to her and give her a hug," said Miho, who collected her third silver medal of the games, after finishing second in the women's 1,500 meters and the 500.
The newly crowned gold medalists paid tribute to the vanquished Japanese after the race, with Weidemann saying they had "taken the team pursuit to a whole different level."
"We have constantly been chasing them," said Weidemann, who also expressed sympathy for the silver medalists.
"It's always sad to see another team fall. They fought so well all season, and they fought well here at the Olympics."
Nana said she had been in an "excellent mood" and full of confidence ahead of the final, making the fall even harder to accept.
"I thought I'm going to complete my best skate in the past one and a half weeks, together with my sister," the 29-year-old said.
"My mind hasn't recovered from the fall. It's hard for me to think or talk about it right now."
Despite the disappointment, she said the team could still be proud of its efforts since its triumph in Pyeongchang.
"We have been training together for a long time and the three of us were able to align ourselves with a very tight formation. So in the past four years, we have been able to really excel," she said.
Sato said she had "mixed feelings of regret and joy" but would continue to value the time spent practicing and competing alongside her teammates.
"This time itself is priceless to me," she said.
Miho will have one last shot at gold in Beijing on Thursday in the 1,000.
"This will be my final event, the final part of my challenge for these Olympic games, so I will have to give it my all," she said.
The reigning Olympic champion in the women's mass start, Nana will seek to defend that title on Saturday.
