Nao Kodaira won the women’s 500-meter speedskating event in the Pyeongchang Olympics on Sunday, becoming the first Japanese woman to win gold in the sport.
Nao Kodaira won the women’s 500-meter speedskating event in the Pyeongchang Olympics on Sunday, becoming the first Japanese woman to win gold in the sport.
Kodaira, 31, marked an Olympic record time of 36.94 seconds, defeating two-time Olympic 500-meter speedskating champion Lee Sang-hwa of South Korea, who clocked 37.33 seconds to win silver. This is Kodaira’s second Pyeongchang medal. She earned silver in the 1,000-meter event last week. Kodaira, the captain of the national team, is the second gold medal winner among the Japanese participants in the Pyeongchang Games, following figure skater Yuzuru Hanyu, who won his medal on Saturday.
