Tsubasa Hasegawa barely missed the podium when he finished a career-best fourth in the men's 500 meters at a World Cup speedskating event in Germany on Sunday.
On the final day of the three-day meet in Berlin, the 22-year-old Hasegawa crossed the finish line in 35.06 seconds — 0.08 seconds behind third-place Kai Verbij of the Netherlands, the fourth-place finish his highest rank on the world tour.
"It's disappointing I wasn't able to reach the podium," said Hasegawa, who added that he was aiming to go under 35 seconds and was not satisfied with the way he had skated into the bends.
Ruslan Murashov of Russia won the race in 34.81 seconds, Dutchman Ronald Mulder was second and Japan's Yuma Murakami 10th.
Miho Takagi skated to fourth for Japan in the women's 1,000 meters and 12th in the 3,000 meters.
Takuro Oda was ninth in the men's 1,000 meters.