Tokyo, Japan, April 7, 2022: Japanese speed skater Miho Takagi, who won four medals at Beijing 2022, has announced she will take a timeout – but has no plans of retiring from international competition.
Takagi, 27, won the women’s 1,000 metres title at Beijing in an Olympic record time and added three silver medals in the 500m, 1,500m and team pursuit.
This took her Olympic medals tally to seven - two gold, four silver and one bronze - more than any other female athlete from Japan in summer or winter editions of the Olympic Games.
“I feel like I want to keep skating and, as long as I feel that way, I will,” she told a press conference in Tokyo on April 5 following the conclusion of the speed skating season.
“I want to do what I can when I can so that I don’t regret anything down the line.
“I did ask myself whether I wanted to continue but there was a part of me that was upbeat about skating - and not out of a sense of responsibility or mission but because I want to. That’s what I’ve come to understand about myself.”
Asked whether Milan Cortina 2026 - which would be her fourth Olympic appearance - was anywhere on the radar, Takagi added: “Being completely honest, I don’t know. Maybe the day will come when I don’t want to skate anymore. Who knows how long my body will hold up as an athlete?”
Whenever Takagi decides to lace up her skates again, she will be doing it without older sister and two-time Olympic gold medallist Nana Takagi, who has announced her retirement.
Source: www.olympics.com