Canadian women’s ski jumping team hopes to continue to soar to new heights

The Canadian women's ski jumping team will head to their home away from home in Slovenia next month.

Members of the Canadian women’s ski jumping team took the first step to getting back on the hill Thursday.

They were at the Canadian Sport Institute at WinSport for a pre-season intake camp.

The team was put through a series of fitness, health and wellness tests before heading to Slovenia, where they’ll start training for the upcoming season.

Olympic bronze medallist Abigail Strate says it’s a big year with the 2026 Winter Olympics in Italy on the horizon.

“For myself, I just try to make sure that I try to have the peak of my season lining up with Italy,” said the 24-year-old.

“That means taking it lighter in the summer and making sure that you save up some energy coming into the start of winter.

“I’m going to put all I can into it and really leave nothing on the table and hopefully shoot for gold.”

Growing the sport

Strate was a member of the mixed ski jumping team that shocked the world at the 2022 games in Beijing, China.

She, along with Alexandria Loutitt, Matthew Soukup and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, ended up winning the bronze medal.

It was Canada’s first-ever Olympic medal in ski jumping.

Loutitt wants to go for gold in Italy but also wants to continue to grow the sport in Canada.

“I wanted to start ski jumping because I watched the Olympic games in 2010,” said the 21-year-old.

“I hope a little girl can sit in front of her TV and see someone who is flying through the air and be like, ‘That is so cool; I want to do that too.’

“The special thing about the Olympics is the whole world is watching and I think it gives kids and everyone a lot of hopes and dreams.”

Hoping a dream comes true

Nicole Maurer has had the dream of competing in the Olympics since she was a little kid.

She’s hoping that dream will become a reality in 2026.

Maurer says the sport has come a long way for women.

“This year is the first women’s large hill event, so I’m very excited for that,” said the 24-year-old.

“It’s really awesome to do something that wasn’t even a real possibility when I was a kid, even though it was still my dream when I was a kid, so it means a lot to me.”