Kodaira won both the women's 500 and the 1,000 metres at the Calgary Olympic Oval yesterday and held a 0.69 seconds advantage over Heather Bergsma of the United States at the start of day two.

The 31-year-old Japanese sprinter immediately increased her lead in the 500m, being the only one to break the 37 second barrier again as she crossed the line in 36.80sec.

Karolina Erbanova of the Czech Republic came second in 37.23 and Kodaira’s compatriot, Maki Tsuji, was third in 37.28.

Heading into the final 1,000m, Kodaira had a 2.48 seconds lead over Bergsma, fifth in the 500m.

Kodaira was out of reach but both Erbanova and Jorien ter Mors of The Netherlands remained in the battle for the silver medal with Bergsma.

The American and Ter Mors met in the penultimate pair of the 1,000m, Bergsma coming out on top in 1min 12.18sec.

Ter Mors, who skated a Dutch record with a superb final lap yesterday, could not match that performance on Sunday, finishing in 1:12.58.

Erbanova stopped the clock at 1:13.83 to come fourth in the 1,000m, seeing her fall short of the podium as she also finished in fourth in the final classification.

Kodaira added a third place in the 1,000m in 1:13.17 to secure the title after having won the first three distances.

Bergsma held on to second place and Ter Mors grabbed the bronze medal.

In the men's competition, Kai Verbij of The Netherlands clinched the first World Sprint Speed Skating Championships title of his career.

Verbij had a tight 0.11 seconds lead over Nico Ihle of Germany heading into today's competition.

The Dutch European Sprint Champion clocked a personal best of 34.25 for fourth place in the second 500m to increase his lead in the classification. 

Ihle messed up his 500m, finishing way back in 22nd in 35.03.

Ronald Mulder, winner of yesterday's 500m in a Dutch record, shaved another 0.10 seconds off his record to take 500m gold too.

He climbed to second place in the classification, while Roman Krech of Kazakhstan managed another 500m second place finish but was too far behind to challenge Verbij for the title.

Mika Poutala skated a Finnish record in 34.23 to finish third and climb to fourth in the classification.

Heading into the race in ninth place, the Dutch 1,000m world champion Kjeld Nuis put pressure on his rivals when he clocked 1:06.51, just 0.09 seconds outside American Shani Davis’ world record.

With only two pairs to go, Nuis was still on top, as Norway's Håvard Holmefjord Lorentzen clocked 1:07.38 for third place.

Canada's Vincent De Haitre squeezed into second in the 1,000m but Verbij’s time of 1:07.94 was enough to secure the gold medal.

Lorentzen moved into second in the overall standings with Nuis taking the bronze.