ZAO, Japan — Alexandria Loutitt became the first Canadian to win a World Cup women’s ski jump event on Friday, taking gold at a normal hill competition in Zao, Japan.
The 19-year-old from Calgary finished first with 240.3 points after jumps of 98.5 and 95 metres.
“It feels totally surreal,” Loutitt said. “It was the best feeling to see the one next to my name. And I’m also very happy that I’m not the only strong Canadian. Our result shows that it is not just pure luck.”
Horst Bulau was the last Canadian to win a World Cup men’s ski jump event back in 1983. The only other Canadian to win World Cup men’s ski jump gold was Steve Collins in 1980.
Eva Pinkeling was second (231.8 points) on Friday and fellow Austrian Chiara Kreuzer was third (228.6). Abigail Strate of Calgary was 11th.
“Ummmm … apparently I just won a World Cup,” Loutitt posted on Twitter.
A team event was scheduled for Saturday and another normal hill event was set for Sunday.
Loutitt had two fourth-place finishes earlier this season. She won Olympic bronze last year in the inaugural mixed team ski jumping event at the Beijing Games.
The last Canadian to reach the World Cup women’s ski jump podium was Calgary’s Taylor Henrich, who had two third-place finishes in 2015.
