19-year-old Momoka Horikawa broke the link record and won the women's 3,000 meters at the All Japan Speed ​​Skating Championships held in Hachinohe, Aomori Prefecture.

Miho Takagi won the women's 500m, but she finished second in the women's 3000m, behind Horikawa.

On the 29th, the second day of the tournament, three events for both men and women were held at "YS Arena Hachinohe", and among them, the women's 3000 meters was played by Horikawa, a representative of the Beijing Olympics in February, and this event at the Beijing Games. Takagi, who won 6th place, participated.



Takagi won the first women's 500m race of the day with a time of 37.94 seconds, and the women's 3000m race was her second race of the day.



Takagi, who skated first, showed a stable skating from the beginning, maintaining a lap in the low 32 seconds range, and finished in 4 minutes 5.07 seconds.



On the other hand, Horikawa in the final group showed an aggressive skating with a lap of 31 seconds until around the middle stage, and after that he tenaciously marked a lap of 32 seconds, and after updating the link record to 0.54 seconds, he set a personal best. I marked 4 minutes 4 seconds 66.



As a result, Horikawa won the race, and Takagi was 2nd, 0.41 seconds behind Horikawa.



In addition, Kazuya Yamada won the men's 1500 meters with a time of 1 minute 45.57 seconds, breaking the tournament record by 0.15 seconds.

Horikawa "I want to create my own era"

Momoka Horikawa, who won the women's 3,000 meters, said, "I was aiming for it, so I'm happy that it came true. I always lose my pace at the end, but I was able to keep a lap in the 32-second range and persevered. I was able to skate easily and strongly. I looked back.



Regarding her victory over Miho Takagi, she said, "I'm an admired player, so I'm happy to win. I want to do my best so that I can lead the long-distance world, and I want to create my own era." she was determined.

Takagi "The naivety of the estimate came out."

Miho Takagi, who won the women's 500m but finished second in the women's 3000m, falling short of Horikawa, said, "The lap setting was loose and I should have skated in a time that the players in the group behind couldn't follow. Somehow, the estimate that I had always won the title in this event was naive,” he reflected.



Regarding the rise of a young skater like Horikawa, he commented, "I felt in this race that young skaters were smoldering because they had room to grow, and that they would overtake me. It will be fun,' he said.