Overview
- Takagi announced she will "draw a line" under her career after competing this week at Thialf in Heerenveen, with the world championships scheduled from Thursday to Sunday.
- She leaves as Japan’s most decorated Winter Olympian with 10 medals, ranking second among women in Olympic speed skating behind Ireen Wüst.
- After failing to qualify for Sochi 2014, she began training under Dutch coach Johan de Wit, leading into her 2018 breakthrough with team pursuit gold, 1,500m silver and 1,000m bronze.
- At the Milan-Cortina 2026 Olympics she won bronze in the 500m, 1,000m and team pursuit, and finished sixth in the 1,500m.
- Beyond the Olympics she holds the 1,500m world record at 1:49.83 and has 38 individual World Cup victories, the most by any Japanese skater.