HEERENVEEN, Netherlands (Kyodo) Nao Kodaira could only manage sixth in the women's 1,000 meters Saturday and dropped to fourth overall after the opening day of the world sprint speedskating championships.
Kodaira had a strong run and placed second in the 500 meters with a time of 38.28 seconds but slipped down the standings after timing 1:17.40 in the 1,000.
Canada's Christine Nesbitt stormed to victory in the 1,000 in 1:15.01 and went top of the standings with 76.075 points ahead of Germany's Jenny Wolf and Dutchwoman Annette Gerritsen.
Maki Tsuji was 10th and Miho Takagi was 18th.
The first round of the 500 and 1,000 meters are contested in both the men's and women's competition on the first day. Athletes vie for total points in two races in both events in the two-day meet.