Japan's Toyoki Takeda won the men's 500 meters on the first day of the final leg of the speedskating World Cup circuit Friday, churning out a time of 35.57 seconds for the second World Cup triumph of his career.
Takeda, who finished eighth in the 500 at last month's Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, edged Canada's Michael Ireland by 0.02 of a second for the victory.
The final 500 of the World Cup season was scheduled for Saturday. Also in the men's 500, Manabu Horii (36.32) was 11th and Kuniomi Haneishi (36.34) was 12th.