Sara Takanashi won her second medal at the Nordic World Ski Championships on Wednesday when she finished second behind Maren Lundby in the first-ever women's large hill event at a world championships.
The reigning Olympic champion from Norway recorded leaps of 128 and 130.5 meters in Oberstdorf to tally an overall score of 296.6 points, enough to top the podium and claim the historic gold medal, the first on offer since women's ski jumping debuted at worlds in 2009.
Takanashi, who placed third on the normal hill last week, was looking to become the first Japanese woman to win an individual ski jumping world title. With jumps of 126 and 134 meters, Takanashi finished 8.7 points behind Lundby.
"My second jump was my best jump here (in Oberstdorf) so far," said Takanashi.
"I'm glad I was able to end on a good note. I did all I can and it was a good competition. I had fun," she said.
Takanashi, a four-time World Cup overall champion, will have to wait to continue her quest to add to the team world championships gold she won in 2013.
Nika Kriznar of Slovenia took the bronze. Among the other Japanese participants, Yuki Ito finished 13th, Nozomi Maruyama 18th and Kaori Iwabuchi was 29th.