Olympics: Takagi 6th as Netherlands' Schouten wins 3,000

Japan team captain Miho Takagi hit the ice Saturday in the first of her five speed skating events at the Beijing Winter Games, finishing sixth in the women's 3,000 meters won by Irene Schouten of the Netherlands in Olympic record time.Racing against Italy's Francesca Lollobrigida in the 10th and final pair, the 29-year-old Schouten streaked around the National Speed Skating Oval in 3 minutes, 56.93 seconds to claim gold.Lollobrigida took silver in 3:58.06, while Canada's Isabelle Weidemann finished 1.71 seconds off the pace for bronze.Takagi clocked 4:01.77, which kept her on top of the lea…READ FULL ARTICLE