Nagano Olympic bronze-medalist Tomomi Okazaki reclaimed her Japanese national speedskating record in the women's 500 meters on Wednesday, but will need to go much faster Thursday for a chance at a medal in the Salt Lake City Games.
Okazaki, skating in an early pairing at the Utah Olympic Oval, stormed her way around the rink in 37.77 seconds to take the record back from teammate Sayuri Osuga and stand in seventh place overall heading into Thursday's second round of races.
The 30-year-old Hokkaido native, flashing a strong start and steady work on the curves, posted her first-ever time under 38 seconds and shaved 0.01 of a second off Osuga's mark of 37.78.
"I'll start on the inside lane in the next race (on Thursday), so I should be able to get a better result," said Okazaki, who trails first-leg leader Catriona Lemay-Doan of Canada by 0.47 of a second.
Lemay-Doan posted a 37.30 from a start in the outside lane and appears poised to defend her Olympic crown when she gets an inside start for the second leg on Thursday. The gold medal will be determined by the aggregate time.
Germany's Monique Garbrecht-Enfeldt trails Lemay-Doan by 0.04 after a 37.34 in her first race, but will be starting in the more difficult outside lane Thursday, while Andrea Nuyt of the Netherlands is in third after a 37.54.
Osuga sits eighth after a slow start while Yukari Watanabe is ninth and Eriko Sanmiya 12th.