Sarah Catherine Hendrickson (born August 1, 1994) is an American retired

ski jumper Ski jumping is a winter sport in which competitors aim to achieve the farthest jump after sliding down on their skis from a specially designed curved ramp. Along with jump length, competitor's aerial style and other factors also affect the fin ...

. She won the inaugural women's

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...

season in

2012 2012 was designated as: *International Year of Cooperatives *International Year of Sustainable Energy for All Events January *January 4 – The Cicada 3301 internet hunt begins. * January 12 – Peaceful protests begin in the R ...

, finished runner-up in

2013 2013 was the first year since 1987 to contain four unique digits (a span of 26 years). 2013 was designated as: *International Year of Water Cooperation *International Year of Quinoa Events January * January 5 – 2013 Craig, Alask ...

, and won an individual gold medal at the 2013 World Championships.

Career

Hendrickson was born in

Salt Lake City Salt Lake City, often shortened to Salt Lake or SLC, is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Utah. It is the county seat of Salt Lake County, the most populous county in the state. The city is the core of the Salt Lake Ci ...

Utah Utah is a landlocked state in the Mountain states, Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. It is one of the Four Corners states, sharing a border with Arizona, Colorado, and New Mexico. It also borders Wyoming to the northea ...

. She attended

Park City High School Park City High School is a public high school located at 1750 Kearns Boulevard in Park City, Utah, Park City, Utah, United States. It is one of eight public schools in the Park City School District and serves tenth, eleventh, and twelfth grad ...

until 2011, when she began competing in the

Ski Jumping World Cup The FIS Ski Jumping World Cup is the world's highest level of ski jumping and the FIS Ski Flying World Cup as the subdivisional part of the competition. It was founded by Torbjørn Yggeseth for the 1979/80 season and organized by the Internati ...

. During this she moved to The Winter Sports School in Park City, where she graduated in November 2012. In the first ever women's World Cup season in 2011/12, Hendrickson dominated by winning nine competitions; her first being on December 3, 2011 in

Lillehammer Lillehammer () is a municipality in Innlandet county, Norway. It is located in the traditional district of Gudbrandsdal. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Lillehammer. Some of the more notable villages in the munici ...

. The 2012/13 season saw her win four World Cup competitions while finishing runner-up to nearest rival

Sara Takanashi (born 8 October 1996) is a Japanese ski jumper. She is one of the most successful female ski jumpers to date, as well as one of the most successful athletes in the history of the sport, having won four World Cup overall titles (an all-time fema ...

. Hendrickson was also able to win the women's event at the 2013 Ski Jumping World Championships in

Val di Fiemme 300px, Location of the Fiemme Valley in Trentino. 300px, The Passo_Lusia.html" ;"title="Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia">Lagorai seen from Passo Lusia. Fiemme Valley (, ) is a valley in the Trentino Provinces of Italy, province, i.e. the southern ...

. On August 21, 2013 in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf (Low Alemannic German, Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a Municipalities of Germany, municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in German ...

, Hendrickson suffered a serious knee injury which required reconstructive surgery for a damaged ligament. She was one of five top female jumpers who, within a few months, had a bad fall and was forced to take a long recovery period. Hendrickson's injury would drain the chances of the United States women's team for a good result at the

2014 Winter Olympics The 2014 Winter Olympics, officially called the XXII Olympic Winter Games () and commonly known as Sochi 2014 (), were an international winter multi-sport event that was held from 7 to 23 February 2014 in Sochi, Russia. Opening ro ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Сочи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg, from – ''seaside'') is the largest Resort town, resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi (river), Sochi River, along the Black Sea in the North Caucasus of Souther ...

, but it was announced on January 22, 2014 that Hendrickson would still be able to make the team in time for the Games. She was granted the historic honor of being the first female to ever jump in a ski jumping event at the Olympics, with women having been allowed to participate in Olympic ski jumping for the first time in history. Hendrickson re-injured her surgically repaired knee during off-season training in June 2015, ruling her out of the 2015/16 season. In 2017, in an event sponsored by

Red Bull Red Bull is a brand of energy drinks created and owned by the Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With a market share of 43%, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2020, and the third most valuable soft drink brand, behind Coca-Cola and ...

, Hendrickson jumped off the historic

Nansen Ski Jump Nansen Ski Jump, also known as The Big Nansen and The Sleeping Giant, is a ski jump located along Route 16 in Milan, New Hampshire. Built in 1936, it was the largest ski jump of its time. It is now within the Nansen Ski Jump State Historic Site ...

Berlin, New Hampshire Berlin ( ) is a city along the Androscoggin River in Coös County, New Hampshire, Coös County in northern New Hampshire, United States. It is the northernmost city in New Hampshire and the only city in Coös County. The population was 9,425 at ...

. This event marked the first time the jump had been used in 32 years. In December 2017, Hendrickson won the women's ski jumping competition at the U.S. Olympic Team Trials for Nordic Combined & Ski Jumping, securing her place on the U.S. Olympic team for

Pyeongchang Pyeongchang ( , ; in full, ''Pyeongchang-gun'' ) is a county in the province of Gangwon-do, South Korea, located in the Taebaek Mountains region. It is home to several Buddhist temples, including Woljeongsa. It is about east southeast of Seo ...

World Cup

Standings

Wins

References

External links

*
Sarah Hendrickson
at

Women's Ski Jumping USA Women's Ski Jumping USA is a non-profit organization responsible for the operational funding and support of the U.S. Women's ski jumping team. The organization administers funding for coaching, travel, training, equipment and development programs. ...

(archived September 29, 2019) * * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrickson, Sarah 1994 births Living people American female ski jumpers Olympic ski jumpers for the United States Ski jumpers at the 2014 Winter Olympics Ski jumpers at the 2018 Winter Olympics Skiers from Salt Lake City 21st-century American sportswomen