Ski Jumper Alex Loutitt Flies to Fifth at World Cup in Germany
HEINZENBACH, Aut.—Canada’s ski jumpers continued their consistent flight path this season with Alex Loutitt landing shy of the podium in fifth place and Nicole Maurer challenging her career best finish at the World Cup in Heinzenbach, Austria.
The 20-year-old Loutitt came up shy of her seventh podium finish of the season, placing fifth with a total score of 236.9 points on the normal hill.
The Calgary-born leaper was in third place after her first attempt where she flew 91 metres. She was not able to hold onto a medal position in the second jump where she covered 88 metres.
“Alex was struggling the last two weeks with balance issues, so we had to go back some steps in order to fix it and risk (less) results,” said Janko Zwitter, head coach, Canadian Ski Jumping Team. “Alex proved that she is back on track with winning one training round and qualifying, and being furthest in the first competition round.”
Hills are measured by the average spot where jumpers are expected to land safely, or where the hill flattens. A large hill is 120 metres. Jumps are scored on both distance and style.
The Austrians landed on the top-two spots of the women’s podium. Eva Pinkelnig was first at 243.1 points. Jacqueline Seifriedsberger took the silver medal with a score of 240.2. Germany’s Katharina Schmid climbed from seventh spot at the midway point of the competition onto the bronze-medal step of the pdium with 238.0 points after chalking up the top jump in the final round.
Canada’s Nicole Maurer also continues to enjoy steady progression throughout the season. The 24-year-old Calgarian was one place shy of her career-best finish, placing 24th place (198.4 points). Maurer covered 80 metres in her first jump followed by 82.5 metres in the final round.
“I’m really happy for both of the girls today,” said Zwitter. “Nicole showed her best performance this winter season. We have been working really hard on her mental approach, focusing on performance only. We are looking forward to the competition tomorrow and our next chance to show another great performance.”
It has been a dream season for Loutitt, Maurer and their Canadian mates who have combined to win nine medals.
Loutitt remains in fourth place overall in the individual women’s World Cup Standings. Team Canada also sits fifth in the Nations Cup Standings.
The World Cup continues Sunday in Austria with another competition slated on the normal hill.
Complete Women’s World Cup Results (Normal Hill) – Heinzenbach, Austria
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. For more information, please visit skijumpingcanada.com.
