Speed skating: Sprint queen Miho Takagi pulls out of all-round c’ship

INZELL, Germany (Kyodo) — A day after clinching her second career world speed skating sprint championship, Japan’s Miho Takagi withdrew from her bid for a second all-round championship on Saturday.

The Beijing Olympics 1,000 gold medalist, who sealed the women’s sprint title Friday evening, opened her bid for the all-round title by winning a 500-meter race Saturday afternoon but looked spent after finishing 11th in the day’s finale, the 3,000 meters.

Despite sitting third in the all-round standings at Max Aicher Arena in Inzell, Germany, the 29-year-old Takagi, who previously won the 2018 all-round title, announced on her website that she was withdrawing.

“I couldn’t skate all the way to the end,” she wrote. “I am frustrated to be leaving midway through, but my body began screaming and I decided I should not keep skating.”

The all-around competition is scheduled to wrap up Sunday, starting with the 1,500 meters, in which Takagi is both this season’s world champion and World Cup champion, before finishing with the grueling 5,000.