Ski jumpers, by the very nature of their sport, are accustomed to ups and downs. Even so, Canada’s Abi Strate had a summer where she experienced some of the highest highs of her career, as well as a heartbreaking low.
The 24-year-old ski jumper from Calgary was a force on the 2025 Summer Grand Prix circuit, scoring five podium appearances – including a win on the hill that will host the upcoming Milano-Cortina Olympic Winter Games.
But that success was tempered when she lost friend and teammate Alex Loutitt to injury during September's Olympic test event in Predazzo, Italy.
“I think the whole team was in shock. I mean, I was at the top of the hill when she crashed and I saw her get up and walk away so I was like, ‘hey we're all good, we're clear. Maybe she is slightly injured but …it won't end her season,’” Strate said. “Then at the bottom [of the hill] they told me it was probably her knee and I was just shocked.
“So sad. Horrible, horrible timing for an injury, right before the Games. It was heavy. I was heartbroken for her.”
Strate and Louititt, along with Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes and Matthew Soukup, were part of Canada’s historic Olympic bronze-medal winning foursome in the mixed team event in Beijing in 2022.
That surprise medal seemed to be a sign of things to come as both women routinely landed on World Cup podiums in the lead-up to Milano-Cortina. Strate attributed that success to how she and Loutitt lifted each other up at every competition.
“We kind of always bounced off each other,” Strate said. “If I was doing well and she was maybe not having a good day…it makes it easier to handle. If I had an off day, but Allie went and did really well, then my off day doesn't feel so off because the team still has something to kind of feed off of.”
From left to right, Team Canada mixed team ski jumping members Alex Loutitt, Mattjew Soukup, Abi Strate, and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes pose with their Olympic bronze medals at the Beijing Winter Olympic Games on Feb. 8, 2022 in Zhangjiakou, China. (File/Getty Images)‘Feels like more pressure on me’Strate still has medal hopes for this season and the pressure that accompanies them, but she will have to navigate it all without Loutitt, who underwent knee surgery and will miss the entire season.
“In Italy, with this individual kind of medal pressure [or] expectation will be completely different,” Starte said. “I hope not to think of it in a pressure way, but more of a motivational way, an exciting way, and we'll see how everything turns out.
“Especially now [Loutitt is] injured… It feels like more pressure on me, but I don't know. I just hope to have fun with it regardless.”
Canadian team head coach Janko Zwitter said the support system that Strate and Loutitt had created with one another – despite being direct competitors – was something he marveled at.
“Since I've been coaching them, they would support each other and they would not be jealous if the other one wins. This situation was fantastic – crazy fantastic, actually,” Zwitter said. “This is something that we will miss for sure, because Allie’s missing.
Alex Loutitt, left, celebrates with Canadian teammate Abi Strate after Loutitt won world championship gold in March 2023 in Planica, Slovenia. (File/Getty Images)Loutitt’s absence also means that Strate has to deal with the weight of increased success on her own.
“You lose something that holds the team together,” Zwitter said. “Because one of these two would have a fantastic result [at] every single competition. So, if you have to hold the Canadian backpack on your shoulders alone, okay, it's getting more difficult than if you split it into a team.”
Strate will try to adjust to Loutitt’s absence when the first World Cup event of the winter season gets underway this weekend in Lillehammer.
“I didn't even really realize how nice it was having somebody at the top of the hill that you train with, that you're friends with,” Strate said. “Someone that gives you a high five before every jump. I think, in a way, I took that for granted.
“Now that she won't be there, it'll definitely be some adjustment for me, in terms of feeling grounded up there. Without that kind of bouncing-off-each-other at the top of the hill, it would be easier for me to just over-focus on ski jumping. I have to find another way to kind of relax myself up there.
“But I know [Loutitt] will be okay, and she'll come back, and we'll be able to tackle things together again.”
Success not always about resultsDespite her teammate’s absence, Strate is determined to keep building on the latest results from her summer jump season, but with the caveat that she’s not attaching the concept of success to her placement.
“From how well the summer's gone, I'd say my winter goals are quite high. I've kind of gotten away from looking at results as goals, saying ‘oh, I wanna win 10 competitions’ or whatever. I'd rather keep the goals centred around my jumping and around my performance and competition,” Strate said.
Zwitter said that it’s this type of goal – achieving her absolute best and not chasing a spot on the podium – that will help Strate stay focused on each jump as it comes, and success is sure to follow.
“I know that [she] can win competitions …she has already proved that she can do that,” he said. “I would really like to work from one weekend to another, just to put all the pressure from our team away so that she knows she has fantastic stuff.
“If she's doing it like she has been doing all summer, we will have a fantastic season.”
Strate has taken this advice to heart and knows how she will define success for this upcoming season.
“I just want to jump well. I want to have far jumps that feel good. And I know that that'll put me on the podium and winning,” she said. “I want to go to the Olympics and I wanna leave nothing on the table – I want to go and do everything I can, and I think I'll leave proud then, no matter what.”