Japan's Olympic 1000-meter champion Miho Takagi narrowly lost to Dutch rival Jutta Leerdam over the distance Friday at this season's third World Cup speed skating round in the Netherlands.Skating in the first pairing, Takagi clocked 1 minute, 14.29 seconds and remained in position for the gold medal until Leerdam shaved 0.12 second off her time while racing in the final pairing.Dutch sprinter Femke Kok took bronze in 1:14.46, while Japan's Rio Yamada and Yukino Yoshida were seventh and ninth, respectively, at the Thialf arena in Heerenveen.The 31-year-old Takagi said she struggled on her fi…READ FULL ARTICLE
