It was the first individual Olympic gold medal for Miho Takagi ©Getty Images

Japan's Miho Takagi broke the Olympic record as she won the 1000 metres speed skating gold here at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games.

Her time of 1:13.19 helped her to a first victory at these Games after three silver medals.

Jutta Leerdam of the Netherlands was 0.64 behind in 1:13.83 to take silver, and world record holder Brittany Bowe of the US skated into bronze in a time of 1:14.61.

It was the first individual Olympic gold for Takagi after the team success in 2018.

"I knew the rink I was skating in, so I was just focusing on doing the skating I did in the back straight of the 500m, just very strong glides," Takagi said.

"I was struggling with my previous races, so I was just like 'Yay'," ’she laughed.

Maho Takagi flanked by Jutta Leerdam (left) and Brittany Bowe, is only the second Japanese woman to win two Olympic golds after her sister Nana © Getty Images
Maho Takagi flanked by Jutta Leerdam (left) and Brittany Bowe, is only the second Japanese woman to win two Olympic golds after her sister Nana © Getty Images

In women’s events, only her sister Nana had previously won two gold medals.

"I remembered what Nana said to me this morning, 'It's amazing if you win four silvers'." 

Silver medallist Leerdam was left to rue a fractional error which saw her touch the side.

"I felt quite disappointed because I knew I was able to do even better if I didn't make the mistake," Leerdam said.

"If I had skated the way I could have done, the others would maybe not even have been able to beat my time." 

Bowe’s bronze was her first individual Olympic medal, six days short of her 34th birthday, which made her the oldest female Olympic speed skating medallist.

"Unfortunately, I didn't bring home the gold, but I can rest easy tonight knowing that I left everything out there on the ice," Bowe said.