Canada’s Alexandria Loutitt Soars to Canada’s First Women’s Ski Jumping World Cup Win
Zao, Japan.- Calgary’s Alexandria Loutitt wrote her name into the history books today winning Canada’s first-ever FIS Ski Jumping World Cup.
Freshly back onto the World Cup tour after recovering from injury, it took the young Calgarian only a handful of competitions to find her way to the top step of the international field.
“It feels totally surreal,” Loutitt said. “It was the best feeling to see the one next to my name. And I’m also very happy that I’m not the only strong Canadian. Our result shows that it is not just pure luck.”
Last season Loutitt had a breakthrough season with her first top 15 World Cup finish, Continental Cup Podium, World Junior podium, and of course a historic Olympic Bronze medal in the Mixed Ski Jumping Team Event in Beijing.
After an injury that impacted training through the summer and the beginning of the competition season, Loutitt’s form was unknown as she went into her first World Cups of the season. Despite the setback, she was able to finish a career-best fourth place in her World Cup return in Villach, Austria.
After finishing sixth in qualification yesterday on the HS102 in Zao, Japan, Loutitt knew she would be able to challenge the best in the world.
Loutitt had the longest jump in the first round flying 98.5m, and scoring 125.2 putting her into the leader’s position going into the second round. In Ski Jumping, the points from both first and second-round jumps are combined to give the overall score. Going into the second round, Loutitt knew she would need to have another strong jump to stay in the top spot.
“She had a great first jump, going into the second round sitting in first is never easy, but between jumps, we had time to focus on what she needed to do on the hill, rather than the result,” said Igor Cuznar, the team’s Assistant Coach.
Having finished fourth twice this season, Alexandria had been so close to the World Cup podium but had yet to find herself on it.
Despite the pressure riding on her shoulders, the 19-year-old would rise to the occasion and fly 95m / 115.1 points, combining for 240.3 points total propelling her to her first-ever World Cup win.
“We were on the coaching stand waiting for the results to appear,” Cuznar said. “And when we saw first place Janko (Zwitter) and I were screaming and jumping. It was such an amazing moment, and one we will never forget.”
Austria’s Eva Pinkelnig took second with 231.8 points, while her teammate Chiara Kreuzer finished third with 228.6 points.
“We cannot express how elated we are for Alex (Alexandria) and her historic World Cup win. Over the last nine months, Alex has recovered from a planned knee surgery as well as a Lisfranc injury that included a foot fracture during summer training. She felt ready to return to the World Cup at the beginning of December, but her coaches decided she would make her debut at the Sylvester Tournament and this decision was instrumental to her current success,” said Tracy McKay, Alexandria’s mother. “When I spoke with her this morning, she was so excited to share her moment with her teammates and felt so much love from the other two athletes that were on the podium with her. She just could not believe how happy they were for her first podium finish.
“She said hearing the Canadian national anthem play for her was a memory etched in her mind and heart forever.”
The last Canadian woman to stand on the World Cup podium was Taylor Henrich when she finished third in Oslo, Norway in 2015.
Canada’s Abigail Strate also had a great day on the hill finishing 11th with 210 points. The fellow Calgarian has had a fantastic start to the season racking up four top-10 finishes, and two top-four finishes. Nicole Maurer of Canada would finish in 38th place.
After the closing of their home training site at Winsports Canada Olympic Park in Calgary, AB. Loutitt, Strate, and Maurer made the decision to move to Slovenia, where they now spend up to 10 months a year living and training. The results are truly a testament to their hard work and dedication and prove that Canada has a place amongst the strongest nations in the sport.
This wave of success can largely be attributed to the hiring of two new coaches Igor Cuznar, and Janko Zwitter. “Our Canadian women have made tremendous improvements this year, largely due to the incomparable efforts of our women’s head coach Janko Zwitter and his assistant coach, Igor Cuznar,” said Mike Bodnarchuk co-chair of Ski Jumping Canada. “Ski jumping is a very technical sport, demanding physical strength and, perhaps most importantly, mental resiliency. Janko has created a training program our ladies believe in and work hard at every day. Ale’s results in Japan today are a testament to their commitment and never-give-up attitude. We are tremendously proud.”
Full results: https://www.fis-ski.com/DB/general/results.html?sectorcode=JP&raceid=6554
FOR FURTHER INFORMATION:
Nathaniel Mah
Communications
Ski Jumping Canada
T: 403-700-4927
Ski Jumping Canada is the governing federation for ski jumping in Canada. It is responsible for the governance of all ski jumping competitions in Canada and for the operation of the national team.
