Japanese Olympic champion Nao Kodaira won her seventh straight women's 500-meter national speed skating championship on Friday at Nagano's M-Wave ice arena.The Pyeongchang Olympic gold medalist secured her 12th career 500 title, in 37.58 seconds, followed by fellow Olympic medalist and all-rounder Miho Takagi in 37.65. Takagi won the 3,000 in 4:05.00 as the national single-distance speed skating championships got under way.Having lost in Japan last season for the first time in five years, when she was troubled by groin discomfort, 35-year-old Kodaira relished beginning the Olympic season wi…READ FULL ARTICLE
