Oak Park, Glen Ellyn speedskaters win bronze in men's team pursuit

BEIJING — Norway won its second straight Olympic gold medal in men’s team pursuit speedskating, and the Japanese women were headed for another gold as well Tuesday — until one of their skaters crashed on the final turn.suThe stunning fall by Nana Takagi, who was at the back of a three-skater train and appeared to simply lose her balance, handed the women’s team pursuit gold to Canada.The United States won its second speedskating medal of the Beijing Games, claiming the men’s bronze medal and denying Dutch star Sven Kramer a 10th career medal in what is likely his final Olympics.Norway repeated its run to the gold medal from four years ago, knocking off the Netherlands in the semifinals and the Russian skaters in the final with a time of 3 minutes, 38.07 seconds.The Russian skaters finished nearly 2 1/2 seconds behind and settled for the silver.The United States, using a unique strategy in which 36-year-old Joey Mantia leads the three-skater unit for the entire eight-lap race, easily defeated the Dutch in the bronze-medal race with a time of 3:38.80, almost 3 seconds ahead.Mantia, a former inline champion, claimed the first Olympic medal of his career and gave balmy Ocala, Florida, its second speedskating medalist of the Beijing Games. Erin Jackson won gold in the women’s 500 meters.Also receiving medals for the Americans were Casey Dawson and Oak Park’s Emery Lehman, who skated in the final, and Glen Ellyn’s Ethan Cepuran, who took part in the semifinals while Mantia rested.The U.S. missed out on a chance to go for the gold when the Russian skaters won the second semifinal by just 0.43.There was even more drama on the women’s side.In the gold-medal race, Japan led Canada by 0.32 seconds with a half-lap to go, seemingly headed for another Olympic title.But Takagi lost her balance and skidded into the padding on the outside of the track. Because the final time isn’t recorded until all three skaters cross the line, Canada coasted to a surprising victory.Takagi finally crossed more than 11 seconds behind the Canadians, breaking down in tears as she was consoled by Japan’s other two skaters — her sister, Miho, and Ayano Sato.The bronze went to the Netherlands, which beat the Russian skaters with a trio that included individual gold medalists Ireen Wust and Irene Schouten.More AP Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/winter-olympics and https://twitter.com/APSportsFollow Paul Newberry on Twitter at https://twitter.com/pnewberry1963