Japan teen blazing trail for ski jumping women

Sara Takanashi, just 17 years old and 150 centimetres (five feet) tall, is blazing a trail in women's ski jumping with a record World Cup win ahead of her sport's Olympic debut. But the Japanese schoolgirl, carrying the weight of her country's limited gold medal hopes at the Sochi Games, says she is too concerned about improving her own jumps to care much about her place in the record books. "I usually think about how I can enjoy jumping rather than the record," Takanashi said on Sunday when she clinched her eighth victory from nine World Cup events contested so far this season. "I want to work harder still and raise my level higher and higher," she told reporters in Zao, north of Tokyo. The victory, her fourth in a row, has stretched her record of World Cup titles to 17. "It was really great because I think I can now go to Sochi with a positive image in my mind." On January 11 in Sapporo, she broke the previous mark of 13 wins set by world champion Sarah Hendrickson. The 19-year-old American, the winner of the inaugural women's World Cup overall title in the 2011-2012 season, is recovering from a cruciate ligament injury after a fall in August. She is hoping to compete again this month. Takanashi, who was beaten into second spot by Hendrickson at last year's worlds after dominating the 2012-2013 World Cup tour, believes the American's comeback will spur her on. "She is an athlete I admire very much," Takanashi said of Hendrickson before the World Cup weekend in Sapporo. "I can try hard with her just being near me. I want her to come back soon." Her bodyweight of 43 kilogrammes (95 pounds) is seen as a positive for her performance as she is accurate in her inrun slide and quick in making her inflight posture after takeoff. "I could ride firmly in my position," she said recalling her inrun for a jump of 98 metres which outdistanced rivals and earned her 127.5 points in the first round. The score included 54.0 points for style, also the best among the day's 40 jumpers. "I could make the right approach so I could take off without making a loss." The second round was cancelled due to strong winds and she emerged the winner on the basis of first-round results. Her victory on Saturday, in a contest also cut short by bad weather, came with the kind of big scare common in the high-octane sport. She fell and slid down on her back after leaping 104 metres, helped by a strong head wind, on the 100-metre Zao hill and lost many points for style. "A little mistake could have led to an injury that would stop me from making another jump soon," she recalled on Sunday. "I thought only about landing and standing today." Apart from Hendrickson, other female jumpers also fell in training or competition in the season. Austrian Jacqueline Seifriedsberger has been idled after a training fall in December. Takanashi's feat also bested the national record of 16 career World Cup wins set by Noriaki Kasai in the men's category. "I believe the level of the women's competition will rise by leaps and bounds," said Kasai, still active on the World Cup tour at age 41. "I wish Sara will keep on winning in the meantime." Source: AFP