Kodaira breaks Olympic record to win women s 500m speed skating

PyeongChang (South Korea) Feb 18 (IANS) Nao Kodaira of Japan broke the Olympic record here on Sunday on her way to winning the women s 500 meters speed skating at the Winter Games.

Having claimed victory in each of her last 15 World Cup appearances in the women s 500m from 2016 to 2018 reigning world champion Kodaira recorded a winning time of 36.94 seconds shattering the old Olympic record of 37.28 seconds set by South Korean Lee Sang-Hwa at the Sochi Games four years ago.

Kodaira also the silver medallist in Wednesday s 1 000m race became the second Japanese speed skater to win an Olympic gold behind Hiroyasu Shimizu who reaped the title of the men s 500m in Nagano in 1998 reports Xinhua news agency.

Two-time defending Olympic champion and world record holder Lee settled for the silver with a time of 37.33 seconds 0.01 seconds ahead of bronze medal winner Karolina Erbanova from the Czech Republic.

Chinese Yu Jing finished ninth at 37.81 seconds.

--IANS
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