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 fina ...

. 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 concept i ...

season in

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, finished runner-up in

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

, 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 and abbreviated as SLC) is the Capital (political), capital and List of cities and towns in Utah, most populous city of Utah, United States. It is the county seat, seat of Salt Lake County, Utah, Sal ...

Utah Utah ( , ) is a state in the Mountain West subregion of the Western United States. Utah is a landlocked U.S. state bordered to its east by Colorado, to its northeast by Wyoming, to its north by Idaho, to its south by Arizona, and to it ...

. She attended Park City High School 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 Internation ...

. During this she moved to

The Winter Sports School in Park City The Winter Sports School in Park City is a college preparatory public charter school, with students from 9th through 12th grades, located in Park City, Utah. General information The Winter Sports School was founded in 1994 by a group of parents w ...

, 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 municip ...

. 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

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. On August 21, 2013 in

Oberstdorf Oberstdorf ( Low Alemannic: ''Oberschdorf'') is a municipality and skiing and hiking town in Germany, located in the Allgäu region of the Bavarian Alps. It is the southernmost settlement in Germany and one of its highest towns. At the&nb ...

, 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 , ''Zharkie. Zimnie. Tvoi'') , nations = 88 , events = 98 in 7 sports (15 disciplines) , athletes = 2,873 , opening = 7 February 2014 , closing = 23 February 2014 , opened_by = President Vladimir Putin , cauldron = , stadium = Fisht Olympic ...

Sochi Sochi ( rus, Со́чи, p=ˈsotɕɪ, a=Ru-Сочи.ogg) is the largest resort city in Russia. The city is situated on the Sochi River, along the Black Sea in Southern Russia, with a population of 466,078 residents, up to 600,000 residents in ...

, 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 of Austria, Austrian company Red Bull GmbH. With 38% market share, it is the most popular energy drink brand as of 2019. Since its launch in 1987, more than 100 billion cans of Red Bull have been sold worldwid ...

, Hendrickson jumped off the historic Nansen Ski Jump in

Berlin, New Hampshire Berlin ( ) is a city along the Androscoggin River in Coös County in northern New Hampshire, United States. It is the northernmost city in New Hampshire. The population was 9,425 at the 2020 census, down from 10,051 at the 2010 census. It ...

. 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 Seou ...

World Cup

Standings

Wins

References

External links

*
Sarah Hendrickson profile
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. ...

Sarah Hendrickson profile
at

USSA Ussa is a Local Government Areas of Nigeria, local government area in Taraba State, Nigeria. Its headquarters is in the town of Lissam. Ussa borders the Cameroon, Republic of Cameroon in the south; the Donga River forms its northern boundary. U ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Hendrickson, Sarah 1994 births American female ski jumpers Living people Olympic ski jumpers of 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 women