Abigail Strate battles to fifth, Nicole Maurer 28th in weather-shortened event
SZCZYRK, Pol.—Not even Mother Nature could stop Canada’s Alex Loutitt from landing on the Grand Prix podium.
The Calgary ski jumping ace extended her bronze-medal winning streak to four in a weather-shortened competition on Sunday in Szczyrk, Poland.
“Lots of wind, rain and waiting today, but with just one jump I managed to keep my streak of finishing on the podium,” said Loutitt on Instagram following the event that featured 36 of the best women in the sport.
The 19-year-old posted the third-furthest leap of the day at 90 metres. She racked up 118.9 points through combining her distance with style, inrun length and wind conditions.
Loutitt won the first two Grand Prix medals of her young career one week ago while conquering the large 132-metre hill in Courchevel, France. She completed her first ever ski jumping hat-trick Saturday in Poland with another third-place result on 104-metre hill. Sunday’s leap may have been her best of the bunch, but she had no chance to move up the standings with the variable wind conditions before officials called the competition after the opening round.
“I am jumping with more confidence, and it feels like it is the first time I have been able to do that in the summer consistently which is really cool,” said Loutitt on Saturday. “I think there are lots of things to improve on. It is time for a break and then back to work.”
The Slovenians grabbed the top-two spots on women’s podium.
Nika Kriznar remained unbeaten in the first four of 12 events on the summer Grand Prix that 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. Kriznar chalked up 125.2 points. Nika Prevc took the silver medal with 121.8 points.
Calgary’s Abigail Strate also mixed it up with the podium contenders with a solid jump but faced tough luck with the challenging wind conditions. The 22-year-old snagged her fourth top-10 result, placing fifth with 107.3 points.
Competing in just her second event of the season, Nicole Maurer had her best performance of the weekend. The 23-year-old flew 80.5 metres, landing her in 28th spot with 73.6 points.
“Overall, we are happy with the results this weekend,” said Janko Zwitter, head coach, Canadian Women’s Ski Jumping Team. “Abi was technically cleaner yesterday, but unlucky with the wind, though she is moving closer to the podium every single competition. Nicole made a big step forward today that is really promising for the future. And, Alex had probably her best jump today, but just had no chance with this wind. There are still things to do, but we all know we’re on the right path.”
The 2023 Grand Prix resumes September 3-4 in Rasnov, Romania.
Complete Women’s Grand Prix Results – Poland:
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