Canadian Ski Jumpers Alex Loutitt and Abigail Strate Tie for Fifth at World Championships
TRONDHEIM, Nor.—A trio of Canadian ski jumping aces enjoyed a career-best day at the World Championships in Trondheim, Norway on Friday.
All three Calgarians posted top World Championship results on the normal-sized hill. Alex Loutitt and Abigail Strate landed in a tie for fifth, while Nicole Maurer placed 21st.
The 21-year-old Loutitt was sitting in third place after her first leap covering 101.0 metres off the HS102 tower. The adrenaline seeker dropped two spots on podium after a jump of 95.5 metres in the second round for a total of 236.7 points.
“It was really cool to be tied with Abi in fifth. It would have been even better if we were tied on the podium, but I am happy with the performance today,” said Loutitt, who has two podium finishes on the large hill this year including one victory. “I am a big hill jumper. I am just more comfortable with the feeling and the style.”
Jumps are scored in both distance and style. Loutit is the defending women’s World Champion on the large hill.
Feeding off her first World Cup podium of the season one week ago, Abigail Strate matched Loutitt’s point total for the first top five World Championship finish of her career. The 24-year-old Strate covered distances of 104.5 and 94.5 metres in her two attempts.
“I was surprised to be in the fight for the medals after the first jump. I didn’t quite nail the second jump, but overall, it was another good result,” said Strate.
The multi-talented graphic designer has been on quite a run with her third-straight top-10 finish on a normal hill.
“The confidence is definitely building given the run I’ve been on, and it is for sure motivating,” said Strate. “I’m excited to keep building on this while switching my mindset to the large hill.”
Nicole Maurer has also been tracking closer to the podium mix, consistently posting career-best finishes over the last month. Sitting in 29th after her first leap on Friday, the 23-year-old let it fly in the final round, posting the 13th-best attempt while covering 95.0 metres. Maurer landed in 21st overall with 187.7 points.
“I had been feeling a lot of pressure trying to find funding lately which I think had impacted my results, but once I received support from the Murphy Family through the Canadian Olympic Foundation and secured my carding, I’ve been able to relax and just enjoy jumping,” said Maurer, who was 16th one week ago. “After that first jump, I just told myself to have fun. I build a lot of confidence training alongside Alex and Abi – seeing what they are doing in training and what I’m able to do alongside them. I have been feeling better and having fun.”
Slovenia’s Nika Prevc was crowned World Champion with 259.2 points. Germany’s Selina Freitag posted 250.8 points for second place. Norway’s Anna Odine Stroem rounded out the women’s normal hill podium with 246.6 points.
The Canadian women will be back on the top of large hill at the World Championships on March 7.
Complete Women’s World Championship Results (Normal Hill) – Trondheim, Norway.
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.
