Canadian ski jumper Alexandria Loutitt wins World Cup bronze in Norway

Canada’s Alexandria Loutitt earned a bronze medal from the first World Cup ski jumping event of the season.

The 19-year-old from Calgary was leading Saturday’s event in Lillehammer, Norway, after the first round, posting a score of 130.6 points.

Loutitt was bumped down the podium after the second round, finishing with a total score of 241.6 — just three points back of gold medallist Yuki Ito, of Japan.

Loutitt was pleased to still land on the podium despite not being at her best in Lillehammer.

“I made a silly mistake jumping a bit early on my second jump,” Loutitt said. “This is a hill that I struggle a bit with my timing. You need the feeling of the transition point and I’m guessing a bit when I jump early.

“I think today also shows that even when I’m not at my best, I can be right there and that is a good place to be and is a sign of how far we have come.”

Josephine Pagnier of France (242.7) snagged the silver medal while Calgary’s Abigail Strate finished 20th, 37.3 points back of the winner.

The bronze-medal finish earned Loutitt 60 points in the overall World Cup standings, behind Ito (100) and Pagnier (80).

Loutitt was named the 2022-23 Rookie of the Season on Saturday.

She enters this season as the reigning world champion after scoring gold last March in Slovenia. She also helped Canada earn the country’s first Olympic medal in ski jumping when she, Strate, Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, and Matthew Soukup took bronze in the team competition at Beijing 2022.

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