Nao Kodaira will look to emulate men's figure skating star Yuzuru Hanyu when she takes her second crack at a sprint gold medal in the women's speedskating 500 meters on Sunday.
Hanyu gave Japan its first gold medal of the games on Saturday and Kodaira, on paper at least, is the favorite to take gold in her strongest distance at Gangneung Oval and provide the Japanese delegation with further momentum.
Kodaira was sixth in her first race here in the 1,500 and could only manage silver in the 1,000 race she was widely expected to win, having set the world record in a World Cup meet in Salt Lake City in December.