In elite-level speed skating, there's often a razor-thin margin between good and great. Japan's Miho Takagi has had numerous great performances in her decorated career.
The three-time Olympian captured the women's 1,000-meter gold medal at the 2022 Beijing Games. She then won that event at back-to-back ISU World Speed Skating Single Distances Championships in 2024 and '25, demonstrating how her hard physical training and commitment to the sport have paid off.
In the run-up to the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, the 31-year-old is testing her skills against other top competitors in the ongoing ISU Speed Skating World Cup.
The fourth of five World Cup meets for the 2025-26 season was held December 12-14 in Hamar, Norway, where Takagi showed everyone that she's as competitive as ever. And the Hokkaido Prefecture native collected a pair of World Cup wins during her Norwegian trip.
On Friday, she bested the field in the 1,500 meters, clocking 1 minute, 54.95 seconds. Kazakhstan's Nadezhda Morozova grabbed the silver medal, placing 0.04 seconds behind Takagi.
What was Takagi's reaction to winning the 37th World Cup event of her career?
"There's a sense of relief, but the next thing that comes to my mind is how the race went, more than the joy of winning the event," Takagi said, according to Kyodo News.
"My final lap time would see someone strong in the second half overtake me," added the two-time Olympic 1,500 silver medalist (2018 Pyeongchang Games, 2022 Beijing Games). "There are areas I have to improve and make progress."
Another Victory for Miho Takagi
On Saturday, Takagi once again exhibited strong form on the ice. She completed the 1,000 in 1:14.39 to win by 0.34 seconds over Dutch runner-up Femke Kok.
In analyzing her winning performance in Hamar in the 1,000, Takagi described it as "a more uplifting race" than Friday's, Kyodo News reported.
The International Skating Union website provided additional clarity on Takagi's perspective on her pre-Olympic training and racing.
"Today, I felt much better than yesterday. I'm getting better every race, and that's what I really need going into the Olympic Games," Takagi said, according to this news report.
With less than two months until the start of the 2026 Olympics, Takagi was encouraged by the results of her races in Norway.
"I sense I'm gradually managing to internalize things that I've been working on to make improvements," she was quoted as saying by Kyodo News. "How I can brush them up will be key from here."
Time is moving quickly.
The final World Cup meet of the season is set for January 23-25, 2026, in Inzell, Germany.
A Coach's Perspective
I reached out to Johan de Wit, Takagi's coach, on Tuesday, sending a few questions and general statements via text messaging.
For starters, I asked her longtime Dutch coach if the two weekend victories in Norway were important as benchmarks for this season, in his view. And also, I asked this: Did he consider them important as confidence-boosting events?
"Very important," de Wit told me. "A win always gives you confidence and the feeling that you are going in the right direction."
The latter part of my text-message exchange with de Wit focused on the physical performance he saw during Takagi's races in Hamar. From a technical standpoint, was Takagi efficient in the movement of her arms and legs to propel her speed? Was her use of kinetic energy satisfactory?
In Norway, I pointed out, she appeared to be in top form while zooming across the ice.
De Wit concurred.
"I totally agree," he pointed out. "But that is also what we are working on every day."
A Look Ahead
At the 2026 Olympics, the women's 1,000-meter winner will be determined on February 9 at Milano Speed Skating Stadium. On February 20, the 1,500-meter event is scheduled.
Also, keep an eye on Takagi in the team pursuit competition, an event in which she helped Japan collect the silver medal at the Beijing Games and the gold four years earlier.
She underlined her focus moving forward in the ISU article.
"My focus is the 1,500 meters and the 1,000 meters, and also the team pursuit," Miho Takagi commented. "I'm not sure about the 500 meters. I need more speed."
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- Speed Skater Miho Takagi Zooms to Two Victories at the World Championships
Author: Ed Odeven
Find Ed on JAPAN Forward's dedicated website, SportsLook. Follow his [Japan Sports Notebook] on Sundays, [Odds and Evens] during the week, and X (formerly Twitter) ＠ed_odeven.
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