Norway, Japan top Day 2 of World Cup Speed Skating

Norwegians Sverre Lunde Pedersen and Sindre Henriksen took gold and bronze respectively in the Men's 1,500m as Japanese Nao Kodaira and Miho Takagi dominated in Ladies' speed skating, winning the 500m and the 1,500m respectively in the ISU World Cup Speed Skating in Stavanger.

Pedersen finished in 1 minute, 45.07 seconds, clinching his second career individual World Cup win. Henriksen made his individual podium debut, stopping the clock at 1:45.37. Joey Mantia (US) took 1:45.28 to grab the silver on Saturday, reports Xinhua news agency.

Norway not only took gold and bronze in the men's 1,500m, but four of the host country's skaters finished in the top 10.

Henriksen was happy to give the home crowd something to cheer for. "Last season was not so good for us, but we've been patient and working really good. We have a good mentality in the team and now it pays off," he said.

Takagi claimed her second 1,500m gold medal this season. Heather Bergsma (US) took silver and Lotte van Beek (Netherlands) grabbed the bronze.

--IANS

sam/mr/ksk