Home glory for Japan at Speed Skating World Cup

Nao Kodaira took top spot in the 500m, while the crack team of Ayano Sato and the Takagi sisters – Miho and Nana – dominated in the team pursuit event.

Reigning Winter Olympic champion Kodaira went into her event as the red-hot favourite, and with the home support behind her it was always difficult to look past her for victory.

Her time of 37.49 seconds sealed gold, with Austrian skater Vanessa Herzog the only other woman in the field to break the 38-second mark, while Kodaira's compatriot Maki Tsuji took bronze.

In the team pursuit, the home team were similarly fancied, again coming into the race as champions from the Olympics in PyeongChang.

The Japanese trio blew their opposition out of the water to claim victory, finishing in a time of 2:57.8, with the Netherlands taking silver and Russia bronze having both set track records.

In the men's event, it was Russia who upset the applecart, as they took gold despite finishing tenth overall in last season's Team Pursuit World Cup.

They finished ahead of the Olympic bronze medallist Netherlands who finished second with Norway taking home bronze.

And it was the second medal of the day for the Scandinavian nation, with Havard Holmefjord Lorentzen winning gold in the men's 500m.

As in the women's event, Lorentzen – victor in PyeongChang – went into this one as favourite and duly delivered on expectations, continuing on from where he left off after winning last season's World Cup.

He beat out fierce competition from world record holder Pavel Kulizhnikov of Russia – who finished just 0.04 seconds behind the Norwegian – in second and Japan's Tatsuya Shinhama in third.

Sportsbeat 2018