The women's 1000m speed skating race was a moment filled with firsts.
For American Brittany Bowe, she captured that elusive individual medal, winning bronze. Meanwhile, Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands won silver at her first Olympic Games. Beating a field of that caliber required something special, something Miho Takagi of Japan delivered on Thursday morning.
Takagi set an Olympic record of 1:13.19 to claim her first-ever Olympic gold in an individual event.
Takagi previously won gold in team pursuit in PyeongChang. This most recent medal brings her collection to six.
Bowe has been a staple of U.S. speed skating, competing in three Olympic Games and stepping in for bobsledder Elana Meyers Taylor as Opening Ceremony flagbearer in Beijing after receiving the second-highest number of votes by the U.S. delegation. Despite this reputation, she's long been on the outside looking in at the medal stand, with her lone medal heading into Beijing a bronze in team pursuit from PyeongChang.
She entered the final event of her Olympic program on the heels of two disappointing turnouts for the 500m and 1500m, finishing 16th and 10th respectively. However, she had history on her side as she is the current world record holder at 1000m.
Bowe's bronze medal performance marks a return for the U.S. to the medal stand in this event for the first time since 2002. Despite that 20 year drought, the U.S. remains the all-time leader in medals at this distance with 12.
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Missing from the podium? Leerdam's Dutch teammate Ireen Wust who finished 6th in the standings.
Wust -- the most decorated speed skater in Olympic history -- has 13 Olympic medals to her name, two of which came in Beijing, and is the first Olympian to win a medal in five different Games, Summer or Winter.
Despite her impressive pedigree, the 1000m race is considered Wust's weakest event and is the lone distance that she only ones a single medal in -- silver in Sochi.
American Kimi Goetz finished with a time of 1:15.40, good for seventh in the field. This was Goetz's first Olympic appearance.
