Jan. 15—LAKE PLACID — The Japanese duo of Kazuya Yamada and Taiyo Nonomura captured the gold and silver medals, respectively, in the men's 1,000-meter speedskating event to highlight Sunday's early action at the World University Games.

Yamada was victorious in 1 minute, 12.38 seconds, while Nonomura's time was 1:12.50 at the James C. Sheffield SSK Oval.

Canada's David La Rue snagged the bronze medal in 1:12.57.

William Gerbauer was the top finisher for the United States, taking 12th place in 1:14.31.

On the women's side, the Republic of Korea's Minson Kim won gold with a time of 1:20.46, finishing ahead of Poland's Iga Wojtasik, whose clocking was 1:21.78.

America's top finisher was Anna Quinn, whose 1:25.81 time earned her 20th place.

FIGURE SKATING

Japan's Yamamota Sota won gold in the men's single free skating competition, amassing a total of 173.54 points at the Olympic Center.

Fellow countryman Tsuboi Tatsuya was the silver medalist, accumulating 159.34 points.

Dinh Tran was the top U.S. point-getter with 137.90 for eighth place.

CROSS COUNTRY

Finland's Verneri Poikonen captured gold in the men's sprint free final at Mt. Van Hoevenberg.

He completed the 1.5-kilometer event in 2:34.74. Spain's Jaume Pueyo earned silver with a time of 2:35.27, while France's Tom Manani was the bronze medalist in 2:35.93.

The best American finisher was Will Koch, whose clocking of 2:39.35 earned him sixth place.

In the women's competition, Estonia's Mariel Merlii Pulles won the gold medal with a time of 2:54.57.

The silver and bronze medals went to Finland's Tiia Olkkonen and Germany's Anna-Maria Dietze with respective clockings of 2:55.20 and 2:55.50.

Erin Bianco was the best U.S. finisher, placing fourth in 2:56.53.