Calgary's Alexandria Loutitt wins ski summer jumping bronze; Strate finishes eighth

Calgary's Alexandria Loutitt soars through the air during the Women's Normal Hill Individual ski jumping event at the Nordic World Ski Championships in Planica, Slovenia, Thursday, Feb. 23, 2023. Loutitt won bronze at the FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix summer series opener on Saturday. THE CANADIAN PRESS/AP-Darko Bandic

Canada's Alexandria Loutitt won bronze at the FIS Ski Jumping Grand Prix summer series opener on Saturday.

The 19-year-old from Calgary finished third on the women's 132-metre large hill in Courcheval, France, with 167.1 points.

Loutitt was sixth after her first jump of 112.5 metres.

She then launched herself onto the podium with a stellar final leap of 120.5 metres in her second and final attempt.

Slovenia's Nika Kriznar took the first gold medal of the summer season, while Japan's Sara Takanashi secured second. Calgary's Abigail Strate was eighth.

Summer ski jumping is performed on an in-run where the tracks are made from porcelain and the grass on the slope is covered with water-soaked plastic. 

"It's definitely exciting to start the season off on a high note with my first career Grand Prix podium," Loutitt said. "There are certainly a few issues to be ironed out, but I'm happy that I still have room to grow and improve moving forward."

Loutitt and Strate are picking up where they left off after a breakout 2022-23 campaign that saw them lead the Canadian women's team to 24 individual top-10 finishes at World Cup and summer Grand Prix events.

That included three World Cup podiums. 

Loutitt also made history by winning both the women's senior and junior world championship titles last winter.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 29, 2023.