Otepaa, Estonia – Park City, Utah’s Sarah Hendrickson was the top U.S. finisher in 18th as the FIS World Junior Ski Jumping Championships in Otepaa, Estonia opened up action Thursday with the women’s HS 100. Coline Mattel of France grabbed gold.nMore than 50 jumpers from 16 nations competed in the Junior Worlds individual event under the big lights as the competition was televised throughout Europe and streamed on the Internet. Seven out of the top 10 finishers were from different nations, reinforcing the continued universality of women’s ski jumping to a skeptical International Olympic Committee.

Mattel clinched the win with a score of 257.5 and jumps of 96.5 and 98.5m, continuing the momentum she’s carried from recent back-to-back wins on the Continental Cup (COC) tour. Slovenia’s Spela Rogeli earned silver and Japan’s Yuki Ito, who at 99m recorded the longest jump of the day, took bronze.

Hendrickson’s score of 178.0 with jumps of 87 and 87.1 meters was followed up by fellow Americans Nita Englund, of Iron Mountain, Mich., in 18th, Park City’s Avery Ardovino in 37th and Nina Lussi, of Lake Placid, N.Y., in 38th.

Hendrickson won bronze in the 2010 Junior Worlds and came into today’s event having reached the podium four times this COC season, including a win this summer in Bischofsgrun, Germany. She placed second in Vikersund, Norway, in December. Her jumps on Thursday weren’t quite enough to put her near the podium in this competitive field.

Englund, who moved to Salt Lake City in 2010 to attend Westminster College and heighten her training in Park City, had a first-round jump of 83.5 meters and second jump of 76.5. She’s consistently made the top 30 on COC comps this season.

Ardovino jumped 74.5 meters and Lussi jumped 73.5 meters in the first round and didn’t make the top 30 for round two. She’s back competing on the COC this season after a year-and-a-half off due to a knee injury. Lussi is attending high school in Austria where she’s training and gaining international ski jumping experience.

The FIS World Junior Ski Jumping Championship men’s HS 100 is scheduled for Friday.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
2011 Junior World Nordic Ski Championships – Ski Jumping
Otepaa, Estonia – Jan. 27, 2011
HS 100

Gold: Coline Mattel, France, (96.5, 98.5) 257.5
Silver: Spela Rogelj, Slovenia, (96.5, 96.5) 254.0
Bronze: Yuki Ito, Japan, (93.0, 99.0) 252.0