Overall ski jumping World Cup champion Sara Takanashi fell just short in her bid for gold at the FIS World Nordic Ski Championships on Friday, taking a silver medal behind American rival Sarah Hendrickson.
The 16-year-old Takanashi, coming off four consecutive World Cup wins, landed jumps of 104.5 and 103 meters for a point total of 251.0. The 18-year-old American edged past her with a score of 253.7 points, which included the day's longest jump of 106 meters. Austria's Jacqueline Seifriedsberger took the bronze with 237.2 points.
"I had my eye on the gold, but I'm glad to have won a medal," Takanashi said. "I'm happy that I was able to put together two solid jumps. My timing (on the takeoff) was something I had been working on, and it felt good today."
Japanese competitors Yuki Ito, Misaki Shigeno and Yurika Hirayama finished in 20th, 22nd and 24th place, respectively.