Japan's Miho Takagi and Tatsuya Shinhama both finished second in 1,000-meter races at the third speedskating World Cup event of the season Friday.
Women's Beijing Olympics gold medalist Takagi clocked 1 minute, 15.52 seconds, 0.26 behind Dutch winner Jutta Leerdam in Stavanger, Norway. Leerdam's compatriot Antoinette Rijpma-De Jong rounded off the podium finishing 0.48 behind the leading time.
"I couldn't skate the way I wanted from the start," the 29-year-old Takagi said. "It wasn't a skating issue but more about not managing to fully prepare for the race."
Shinhama finished in 1:08.88 in the men's race but was 0.12 off another Dutch winner on the day, Kjeld Nuis. Fellow Japanese Kazuya Yamada came third, crossing 0.34 behind Nuis.
"The race went as I'd imagined, but it's frustrating as I could have won the title by beating the opponent in my race," the 27-year-old Shinhama said.
"There's a feeling I could have won it had I kept my shape until the end and stayed a bit more tenacious."