Canadian ski jumper Alexandria Loutitt claims World Cup silver

Mar 15, 2023 | 2:56 PM

LILLEHAMMER, Norway — Canadian ski jumper Alexandria Loutitt added to her season’s medal haul with a World Cup silver in large hill competition Wednesday.

Winner of a world championship in large hill earlier this month in Slovenia, the 19-year-old Calgarian vaulted from fifth after the first round to second in Lillehammer, Norway. 

Loutitt’s two-jump score of 242.9 points edged bronze medallist Eva Pinkelnig of Austria by just an eighth of a point.

Germany’s Katharina Althaus took gold with 251.1 points.

Calgary’s Abigail Strate placed 12th.

Loutitt became the first Canadian woman to win World Cup gold with her normal-hill victory in Japan in January.

She’s also Canada’s first world champion in ski jumping.

Hills are measured by the average spot where jumpers are expected to land safely, or where the hill flattens.

A normal hill is usually 90 metres and the large hill is 120 metres. 

Jumpers are scored on both distance and style.

Women have competed in Olympic normal hill since 2014. 

Women’s large hill makes its Olympic debut in 2026 in Cortina, Italy.

Loutitt and Strate combined with Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes and Matthew Soukup to win an Olympic bronze medal for Canada in the mixed team event last year in Beijing.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published March 15, 2023.

The Canadian Press