Canada won gold in the women's speed skating team pursuit after a mishap by the Japanese team cost them the top prize at the Beijing Olympics on Tuesday.
Defending champions Japan started strong as they raced at the National Speed Skating Oval, keeping a steady half-second lead ahead of their Canadian rivals.
But a slip by Japan's Ayano Sato, who was third in the train as they coasted toward a gold medal with the finish line in sight, cost them their title.She lost her balance as the team sped around the last corner and banged into the trackside wall. Her team mates slowed as they realised she had fallen, raising their hands in despair before crossing the finish line 11 seconds behind the Canadians, who finished the race in an Olympic record time of two minutes 53.44 seconds.
Sato could be seen putting her hands together in apology towards her team mates as tears streamed down her face. The Canadians cheered after crossing the finish line and looking up to see that they had clinched their country's first gold medal in the event.The fancied Netherlands team, which counts gold medallists Irene Schouten and Ireen Wust in their ranks, won the bronze medal after crashing out in the semis in a race they lost to Canada.Reporting by Sakura Murakami Editing by Shri Navaratnam
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