Masahiko Harada only needed one jump to ensure himself a fourth large hill crown and his second title in 24 hours at the ski jumping national championships Sunday in Hakuba, Nagano Prefecture.
Harada nailed the day's best effort of 123 meters in the first round of jumps on the K-120 hill and was declared the winner after strong winds forced the cancellation of the second round.
"I was beginning to feel the pressure and was secretly hoping that they would end the competition after the first round," Harada said after strong winds repeatedly interrupted the second round.
Asked about competing at next year's Olympics in Salt Lake City, the 32-year-old Harada remarked "I've been competing these three years (since the 1998 Nagano Games) with the aim of being in Salt Lake next year. I'm overdue for a big result."
The 32-year-old Harada, who won his first normal hill national title since 1999 on Saturday, collected 122.4 points and took his overall national ski jumping title tally to an unprecedented eight.
Yukio Sakano took second after his 121.5-meter leap earned him 118.7 points while Kazuki Nishishita's 121-meter jump gave him third with 117.3 points.