WINTER NOTE｜Speed Skating edition – Hamar as a long run-up.
A turning point: World Cup 4 in Hamar as “the place to decide things”
The Viking Ship in Hamar, Norway, is a special place for speed skaters. It carries the history of the 1994 Lillehammer Olympics, along with that slightly quirky roofline. The ISU Speed Skating World Cup 4 held there in December 2025 became a true “midpoint of the Olympic season,” with Milano Cortina 2026 quota places on the line.
At that very venue, the Japanese team produced results that were almost too good to be true. In the women’s middle distances, Miho Takagi won both the 1500m and 1000m. In the women’s 500m, Yukino Yoshida claimed her first World Cup victory of the season. The women’s team pursuit never let go of the podium either. Taken together, the performances were strong enough to say, even at the end of the year, that “Japan is firmly in the Olympic medal race.”
Miho Takagi’s double – winning while still collecting “things to work on”
On the first day, in the women’s 1500m, Takagi took her first World Cup win of the season with a time in the 1:54 range. For someone who has so often skated close to world-record pace, it may have felt like “there is still room to push higher.” Even so, in the context of a season built around Milano, the significance of closing out the race properly and taking the win is huge.
On the following day in the 1000m, she clocked the low 1:14s, beating out short-distance queen Femke Kok and the rest of the field for back-to-back victories. When she said, “with every race my feeling on the ice is getting better,” her expression felt slightly different from the Takagi of pre-Beijing or right after Beijing — as if some of the tension had finally eased from her shoulders.
“Even when she wins, she is still picking her own skating apart.” That might be the most fascinating thing about Miho Takagi as a skater.
Yukino Yoshida finally grabs her first 500m win of the season
In the women’s 500m, it was 22-year-old Yukino Yoshida who took centre stage. In the first race she stepped onto the podium and immediately gave the impression that “the chance to win is coming very soon.” In the second race she made good on that hint, taking her first World Cup victory of the season with an excellent 37.65.
Even when she explodes out of the start and hits the fastest split over the opening 100m, her form doesn’t crumble afterwards. The way she charges down the straight without noticeably losing speed toward the finish makes you feel, very tangibly, that “Japan once again has a world-class 500m sprinter.”
After the race Yoshida said, “being able to go all the way and win here has added another layer of experience for me.” In Milano she will be a first-time Olympian at 22, standing right in the thick of the medal fight over the short distances.
Team pursuit and the men’s squad – a meet that showed Japan’s depth
In the women’s team pursuit, Momoka Horikawa, Miho Takagi and Ayano Sato combined to finish third. Japan reached the podium in all three team pursuit races held so far in this World Cup season, and the picture of “Japan consistently battling at the top in team events as well” is becoming the new normal.
On the men’s side, Yuta Hirose earned his first World Cup podium in the 500m, while young skaters in the mass start and middle distances also continued to make their presence felt. It is no longer just the women who are standing out; it really feels as though the overall “depth of Japanese speed skating,” men and women together, has become something genuine.
WINTER NOTE’s “review links” for watching Hamar again
To enjoy the races from the new year onward even more, it’s well worth going back and rewatching the Japanese performances in Hamar at least once. Below are a few official posts that work well as an entry point.
Japan Skating Federation – summary of Hamar World Cup results
ISU Speed Skating – post on Yukino Yoshida’s 500m victory
If you think of Hamar’s long straight as a run-up toward Milano Cortina, those two days at the end of the year take on a slightly special meaning. It was the kind of World Cup round that makes you a little impatient to fast-forward to 2026 and see how everything turns out.
