Speed Skater Miho Takagi Places 3rd in the Women's 1,000

Four-time Olympian Miho Takagi collected the bronze medal in the women's speed skating 1,000-meter event on Monday, February 9.

At Milano Speed Skating Stadium, Takagi placed 1.64 seconds behind the Netherlands' Jutta Leerdam, who set an Olympic record with a time of 1 minute, 12.31 seconds.

Femke Kok, another Dutch star, clocked 1:12.59 to nab the silver. On the event's highlight video, one of Olympics.com's commentators enthusiastically praised Kok's fluid skating style, declaring, "She is a technical master."

Although Takagi didn't defend her 1,000-meter title from the 2022 Beijing Olympics, she medaled in this event for the third consecutive Winter Games. That streak began with a third-placed finish at the 2018 Pyeongchang Games. And Takagi, 31, has now collected eight medals in her Olympic career.

*Women's speed skating 1,000-meter gold medalist Jutta Leerdam (center), runner-up Femke Kok (left) and bronze medalist Miho Takagi pose with their medals at Milano Speed Skating Stadium. (©KYODO)*

"There were parts that came together and parts that didn't," Takagi said, assessing her performance on Monday.

She called it "a complete defeat," Sports Nippon reported.

But Takagi said she's determined to have successful showings in the 500 and the 1,500, as well as the team pursuit competition. In Beijing, she was the silver medalist in both individual events and also in the team event.

"I strongly believe I can still go further, and I want to push forward with that conviction," Takagi was quoted as saying by Sports Nippon in Milan.

Miho Takagi vs Jutta Leerdam

Takagi was paired with Leerdam for the 15th and final race. Final results were determined by the times each participant recorded in their pairings.

Leerdam, 27, delivered a sensational burst of speed during her race to set the record-setting pace that produced the Olympic record.

And she was ecstatic after winning gold at the Milan Cortina Olympics.

"Everyone saw how hard of a position I had in the last pair, after a super good time. For everyone, it was surreal," Leerdam said, according to The Associated Press. "It feels very amazing. Just like a cherry on top of my career, basically. It's amazing, it's perfect."

*Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands in action against Miho Takagi in the 1,000-meter event. (©Piroschka Van De Wouw/REUTERS)*

Four years ago, Leerdam was the runner-up to Takagi, who had set the then-Olympic record of 1:13.19.

This time, Takagi, the two-time reigning 1,000-meter world champion, completed the race in 1:13.95. She was ranked second among the 30 entrants at the 200-meter mark (17.61 seconds), and then she was third after 600 meters (44.57).

By contrast, Leerdam reached 600 meters in a blistering 43.78 seconds.

According to Leerdam, the key to victory was to push herself to the brink without worrying about the physical strain.

"I knew that if during the race I would feel tired, I wasn't allowed to feel tired," Leerdam said, according to The Guardian.

What was the message of the pep talk she gave herself?

"I told myself: 'You have 80 years to recover from this; you can feel tired after. [And] you don't want to live with that regret; you fought so hard for this.' "

Also for Japan, Rio Yamada finished seventh and Yukino Yoshida was 16th.