Christine Nesbitt skates to long-track gold in Japan

Christine Nesbitt of Canada won gold at the women's 1,000-metre speed skating final at a World Cup stop in Nagano, Japan on Sunday, capping a three-medal day for Canadian long-track speedskaters.

Nesbitt's time of 1:15.132, was 0.13 seconds ahead of Heather Richardson of the United States. Lotte van Beek of the Netherlands was third in 1:15.87.

"I was in the last pair with Heather Richardson, who won the previous two 1,000's of the season. So I knew that she was going to be fast and she's been skating well," Nesbitt said. "But I felt this week that things have been coming together more and more in my own skating. So I was kind of excited.

"[Richardson] was pretty far ahead with one lap to go, but I dug really deep in the last back-straightaway and I didn't let her out of my sight. I felt like I went out for the hunt and I got her at the line, which is a really nice feeling."

Nesbitt also picked up a silver medal on Saturday in the same event.

On the men's side, Canadians picked up a pair of silver medal finishes.

Calgary's Gilmore Junio took home his first career World Cup medal, and was 0.02 short of making that medal a gold one, being edged out by Japan's Keiichiro Nagashima (35.14) in the men's 500-metre race on Sunday

"I’m pretty excited about my first World Cup medal and it sets out the season really nicely," Junio said. "I'm really excited about ... the rest of the season."

Jan Smeekens of the Netherlands was third in 35.18.

Denny Morrison of Fort St. John, B.C. climbed the podium in the men's 1,000, finishing with a time of 1:09.64, second only to Hein Otterspeer (1:09.20) of the Netherlands. Kjeld Nuis, also of the Netherlands, was third in 1:09.72.

"The race itself went pretty. It was a lot better than yesterday's – just a lot smoother and doing the things I want to do in the race," Morrison said. "There's still a lot to improve on, but I was fortunate enough to win."