Women's ski jumping world champion Sarah Hendrickson, the main rival for Japan's Olympic gold medal hope Sara Takanashi, said Tuesday she is confident she will be fit enough to jump by mid-January and hopes to make the U.S. Olympic team for Sochi.
Hendrickson won the gold medal at the world championships in February but had to undergo right knee surgery after crash landing on a training jump in August in Oberstdorf, Germany.
"I want so badly to walk into the opening ceremony. That's what's getting me up in the morning," Hendrickson was quoted as saying to reporters in Park City, Utah, by ESPN.
Hendrickson, 19, spoke to reporters at the Olympic Media Summit in her hometown with her right leg propped up on a chair and encased in a heavy brace.