February 25, 2011 (Oslo, Norway) – On a day that the women’s best ski jumpers had to compete against each other, they also had to deal with Mother Nature on the famed Midstubakken normal hill. Austrian flyer Daniela Iraschko had a pair of lovely jumps both 97 meters to claim the gold medal in thick fog on the hill.

The 27 year-old, who suffered with a knee injury recently, won her first world championship title with Italy’s Elena Runggaldier in second while France’s young Coline Mattel takes home the bronze.

Jessica Jerome lead the U.S. finishers in 14th with jumps of 84 and 90 meters while Taylor Henrich, the lone Canadian jumping, was a solid 18th today having jumps of 84.5 and 92.0 meters. The crowd watched the men’s normal hill qualifying and then enjoyed the women’s competition, and no one left – the spirit on the hill was captivating.

Jerome spoke for many saying, “The weather was not amazing. For the last three days we’ve been training well with good weather. Unfortunately on the day that it counted, it wasn’t the best. I didn’t do what I am capable off.”

After the first round American Alissa Johnson had a jump of 91 meters, good enough to land her in sixth place, and US hopes were high. Yet her second jump of 81m placed her in 20th.

In a Women’s Ski Jumping USA release Johnson said the conditions were as bad as she’s ever seen. “I couldn’t see anything and I could barely hear anything. It was a bizarre feeling, but I had a job to do. I was happy with my first jump. My second jump, I was definitely nervous, but still having a good time.”

Sarah Hendrickson, 2010 Junior Worlds bronze medalist, had a first round jump of 90.5 m and added an 84m leap that gave her a 16th place finish. Hendrickson told Women’s Ski Jumping USA that the winds were hard to deal with and were all over the place, but felt her jumps were technically not that bad. “It was a little intimidating, but it’s an outdoor sport and we have to take what we can get,” said Hendrickson who donned the words, “Wish it, Dream it, Do it” on her gloves.

The defending world champion, Lindsey Van had a first round jump of 75 meters, which failed to qualify her for a second ride. “I caught a wicked side wind on my jump. I can’t believe they sent me down in that. But, hey, that’s the way it is. Obviously I am not totally psyched,” she told the US Ski Team Press Service.

According to Women’s Ski Jumping USA a International Olympic Committee was paying close attention to Friday’s competition and the IOC is “looking favorably” at adding a women’s ski jumping event to the Sochi 2014 Olympic Winter Games program.

“The announcer just kept saying how important this competition was because of the pending IOC decision and that for these women to jump as well as they did in these conditions was very respectable,” said Vic Method, Women’s Ski Jumping USA vice president.

Full results HERE.

Results (brief)

1. Daniela Iraschko, Austria, (97.0, 97.0), 231.7
2. Elena Runggaldier, Italy, (97.5, 93.5), 218.9
3. Coline Mattel, France, (92.0, 97.0), 211.5
4. Eva Logar, Slovenia, (91.0, 88.5), 197.9
5. Maja Vtic, Slovenia, (88.5, 97.0), 196.0

14. Jessica Jerome, USA, (84.0, 90.0), 177.8
16. Sarah Hendrickson, USA, (90.5, 84.0), 177.0
18. Taylor Henrich, CAN, (84.5, 92.0), 175.9
20. Alissa Johnson, USA, (91.0, 81.0), 169.0
24. Abby Hughes, USA, (86.5, 83.0), 156.5
34. Lindsey Van, USA, (75.0), 61.4