Japan's defending Olympic champion Nana Takagi crashed out in the women's speed skating mass start semifinals Saturday at the Beijing Winter Games, her bid for another gold medal ending in uncannily similar fashion to her team pursuit title defense.Takagi's pursuit teammate Ayano Sato finished eighth in the final won by Irene Schouten of the Netherlands, who collected her third gold medal of the games.The 29-year-old Schouten held off Canadian silver medalist Ivanie Blondin and bronze medal winner Francesca Lollobrigida of Italy in a furious final dash to the line at the National Speed Skat…READ FULL ARTICLE
