February 23, 2012 (Erzurum, Turkey) – Sarah Hendrickson became took home the silver in women’s ski jumping event at the Junior Nordic World Ski Championships in Erzurum, Turkey on Thursday, adding more lustre to her stellar season. Sara Takanashi from Japan won the gold while Carina Vogt (GER) landed on the podium in third.

Hendrickson is leading the inaugural Women’s World Cup series with six wins out of nine events but admitted that the Junior Nordic Worlds was the most difficult contest to date.

“This was hands down the most pressure I’ve ever felt in a competition,” said Hendrickson, of Park City, Utah in a  Visa Women’s Ski Jumping Team release. “I am super happy and very satisfied with my 2nd place.” In 2010 Hendrickson won the bronze at the Junior Worlds becoming the only American, male or female, to ever medal in a Junior World Championships

Hendrickson was tied after the first round with Japan’s 15-year-old sensation, Sara Takanashi. The two battled in the final round with Takanashi just edging out the American for the win by 11.5 points.

Canada’s Taylor Henrich made the top 20 placing 17th while U.S. teammates Nina Lussi finished 29th and Nita Englund was 35th. Henrich’s teammate on the Altius Nordic ski club, Jasmine Sepandj was 38th.

“Sara (Takanashi) jumped amazing and definitely had the best jumps on the hill Thursday and deserved the win 100 percent,”  added Hendrickson. “I’m still a junior and I wanted to really focus to keep my goals set high for Junior Worlds. Being in contention for the overall World Cup title means that some people automatically assume I will win every competition. It’s not that easy because there are great jumpers here and everyone has the same goal, and I put a lot of pressure on myself this week.

There is a team event on Saturday but neithet the USA or Canada are participating.

Results (brief)

1. Sara Takanashi (JPN)             108.5 m (1) / 107.5 m (1)     276.5 points
2. Sarah Hendrickson (USA)       105.0 m (1) / 100.5 m (2)    265.0 points
3. Carina Vogt (GER)                   102.5 m (4) / 100.0 m (5)    255.5 points

Full results HERE.