VANCOUVER 2010 / Japan skates to silver, bronze

VANCOUVER 2010 / Japan skates to silver, bronze The Yomiuri Shimbun Mo Tae Bum of South Korea, who won the men's 500-meter speed skating event, is flanked by second placed Keiichiro Nagashima, left, and bronze medalist Joji Kato as they pose at the Richmond Olympic Oval in Vancouver at the 2010 Winter Olympics on Monday.VANCOUVER, Feb. 16--Keiichiro Nagashima took silver and Joji Kato grabbed bronze in the men's 500-meter speed skating event Monday, collecting the first medals for Japan at the Vancouver Winter Olympics. Nagashima took second in a combined 1 minute 9.98 seconds over the two races, while Kato clocked 1:10.01. The last time Japan won two medals in the men's 500 meters was the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France. South Korea's Mo Tae Bum won in a time of 1:09.82, delivering the country its first gold medal in speed skating. Yuya Oikawa finished 13th and Akio Ota 17th. Nagashima has long said that winning an Olympic medal was about proving his worth. He said he felt his appearance at the Olympics would be meaningless if he did not win a medal. The 27-year-old skater, who once said he had "worked his way up from among the weeds," achieved the result he has been longing for on the grand stage of the Olympics. Nagashima failed to skate as fast as expected in the first run, finishing sixth in 35.1. But with his back to the wall, he recorded the best time for the second run, lapping in 34.87. Nagashima was beaten only by Mo, who skated after him. (Feb. 17, 2010)