• Miho Takagi has +125 odds to win the 1000m gold medal.
• Jutta Leerdam has +160 odds to win the 1000m gold medal.

BEIJING, China – The Winter Olympics are picking up speed as the women’s 1000m speed skating event is set to take place on Thursday. By the look of things, it is coming down to a two-country race for gold between Japan and Netherlands.

As the odds sit right now, online Winter Olympic sportsbooks have Miho Takagi of Japan and Jutta Leerdam of Netherlands neck and neck to win the gold medal.

Odds To Win Women’s 1000m Speed Skating

• Miho Takagi (JAP) +125
• Jutta Leerdam (NED) +160
• Brittany Rowe (USA) +500
• Nao Kodaira (JAP) +900
• Ireen Wust (NED) +1200
• Antoinette De Jong (NED) +2200

Both of these women are two of the top names in speed skating and the fact that they are coming in at plus odds means that this is a great opportunity to get in on either or both of them.

Miho Takagi

Takagi’s speed skating odds have the slight edge over Leerdam given that she has more experience in the sport. The first of her ten gold medals came back in 2013. Of her ten gold medals in her career, it was her first at the Winter Universiade that she won gold in the 1000m event.

Aside from winning gold in the 1000m event, she has won three total combined bronze and silver medals as well. She also posted a personal best in the 1000m event recently in 2019 where she clocked at 1:11.71.

Jutta Leerdam

Leerdam is one of the best up-and-coming speed skaters in the sport. At just 23 years old, she already has eight total gold medals to her name. Of those eight gold medals, four of them have come in the 1000m event and all have come in 2020 or after.

As for her personal best in the 1000m event, she put up a 1:11.84 in 2020 which is currently a Dutch record.

One major career achievement that Takagi has on Leerdam, however, is that this will be Leerdam’s first-ever Olympic games in which she will face tons of pressure.