Yukitaka Fukita leaped 86 and 93.5 meters Friday to win the Sapporo Olympic Memorial ski-jumping meet, edging Japanese Olympic team veteran Masahiko Harada for his first-ever triumph at the annual event.
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| Yukitaka Fukita's 93.5 meter jump |
The 28-year-old Fukita, who has long stood in the shadow of Harada and other members of Snow Brand's star-studded team, scored a total of 232.5 points on the Miyanomori K-90 hill, venue for the 1972 Sapporo Games normal-hill competition.
Harada, a member of Japan's gold medal-winning team at the 1998 Nagano Olympics, missed out on a chance to claim his third title in Sapporo over the last six days after landing efforts of 84 and 93 meters for 226.5 points.
Harada won his first national championship title in nine years at the Snow Brand Cup on Sunday and emerged victorious 24 hours later at the HBC Cup.
Naoki Yasuzaki totaled 218.5 points and shared third place with Austria's Martin Koch.