Alexandria Loutitt from Canada is the new World Champion

The Junior World Champion Alexandria Loutitt from Canada won Wednesday’s competition in Planica to take her first title at the World Championships. Silver went to Norway’s Maren Lundby and bronze to Germany’s Katharina Althaus.

It could have been a historical day for ski jumping as Althaus stood a chance to achieve four gold medals at one World Championships. And it was historical indeed, but not because of Althaus but because of Loutitt’s success. The 19-year-old athlete became the first ever Canadian World Champion in ski jumping. And she did that just a couple of weeks after the Junior World Championships in Whistler, where she also reached gold.

After the first round, Loutitt shared the first place with the defending champion, Maren Lundby. The Norwegian legend jumped on 139.5 meters and set the new hill record. Loutitt landed at 134.5 meters and both had a total score of 130.9 points. Katharina Althaus followed in the third place with her 120.5 meters.

The triple World Champion from Planica, however, started from the gate 17 (Loutitt – 18, Lundby – 19) and had tail wind. 

In the second round, the local hero Ema Klinec put her opponents under the pressure with a jump on 131.5 meters. She could move up from the 11th place up to the 7th. Six athletes remained and each jump resulted in change on the top. Eva Pinkelnig (AUT), Anna Odine Stroem (NOR) and Nozomi Maruyama (JPN) took the lead after their jumps.

And this drift didn’t change. Althaus jumped on 128 meters and kept the chance to win her fourth gold in Planica. Lundby landed even further (133 meters), took the lead and put the young Canadian under huge pressure. But Loutitt could deliver it. She flew to 136.5 meters to claim her first title with an advantage of more than 10 points.

Eva Pinkelnig, Anna Odine Strame and Nozomi Maruyama came in 4th-6th with the strongest of local heroes Ema Klinec in seventh. Thea Minyan Bjoerseth (NOR), Chiara Kreuzer (AUT) and Nika Kriznar (SLO) completed the Top 10. 

It was another good performance from Finland’s Jenny Rautionaho who finished as 13th one spot ahead of France’s Josephine Pagnier.

Poland’s Kinga Rajda achieved her career-best at the World Championships with the 23rd. Straight after her final jump, she announced it was her last competition. The first Pole who could finish Top 10 in the World Cup event ended her career.