Canadian ski jumper Abi Strate manages sky-high expectations in Olympic year without her injured teammate

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.”

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.