Japan's Daito Takahashi overcame a stiff first jump to earn sixth place in the Nordic combined ski-jumping competition in the Olympic Winter Games on Saturday.
The 21-year-old student from Hokkaido Tokai University will have to make up over a minute in time during Sunday's 15-km race, however, to have a chance at taking home one of the medals in the individual event.
"I know my first jump was stiff and I didn't get much distance. Nothing I can do about it now," said Takahashi, who covered his face with both hands after traveling only 91.5 meters on his first attempt at Utah Olympic Park K-90 hill.
"The atmosphere (at the Olympics) is different from anything I felt before," said Takahashi, currently fifth in the World Cup rankings. "I was all knotted up like a junior high school student."
Japan's latest hope in the Nordic combined event recovered quickly, however, posting a jump of 94.5 meters on his second attempt.
Finland's Jaakko Tallus, seventh on the World Cup tour, grabbed the early advantage with a leap of 100.5 meters and now heads into the cross country race with a 48-second lead over Mario Stecher of Austria and 53 seconds over compatriot Sampaa Lajunen.
"There's quite a time difference (behind the leaders), so all I can do is get out there and try to catch them," said Takahashi, who has worked hard during the off-season to improve on his cross country skiing.
Former world champion Kenji Ogiwara, meanwhile, hit a pair of 90-meter jumps to put him in 13th after the jumping section and will start 2:53 behind Tallus.
Gen Tomii, meanwhile, enters the cross-country race in 12th place, starting eight seconds in front of Ogiwara, and Satoshi Mori starts in 22nd, 3:50 after Tallus takes off.