Sapporo, Japan – Park City, Utah’s Sarah Hendrickson was third and seventh in a pair of tough and windy women’s ski jumping competitions this weekend in Sapporo, site of the 1972 Olympic Winter Games, boosting her to second place overall on the World Cup behind Sara Takanashi of Japan.

Hours before Sunday’s event, a 6.9 magnitude earthquake rattled the northern Japanese island of Hakkaido, the epicenter of which was about 120 miles east Sapporo. There were no reports of damage, though it made for an interesting start to Sunday’s competition.

Hendrickson endured multiple gate change delays to finish on the podium in third place with jumps of 93.5 and 87.5 meters. U.S. teammates Lindsey Van clinched eighth with jumps of 91 and 87 meters, Jessica Jerome was a strong 15^th with jumps of 87 and 90.5 meters, and Abby Hughes was 29^th with jumps of 80 and 78 meters. Austria’s Jacqueline Seifriedsberger claimed her first World Cup victory and Norway’s Anette Sagen had a huge leap of 99 meters in her second round to take second.

“It was typical weather for this area and made the comp very difficult,” said Van. “You never know what kind of wind you are going to get, so it is like a lotto game. I enjoy the randomness most of the time, though. It is an outdoor sport and is always fun.”

Saturday’s event ended after the first round of jumping due to high and irregular winds, leaving Hendrickson in seventh, Jerome in 10^th, Van 28^th and Hughes 34^th. France’s Coline Mattel won over Seifriedsberger and Sagen.

Home country favorite and current World Cup leader Takanashi, only 16 years old, finished 12^th on Saturday and fifth on Sunday.

World Cup competition continues Feb. 9-10 in Zao, Japan.

OFFICIAL RESULTS
FIS Ski Jumping World Cup
Sapporo, Japan
Women’s HS100

Feb. 2, 2013

Feb. 3, 2013