Ski jumper Strate soars to four straight Summer Grand Prix podiums
Abigail Strate has gotten her summer ski jumping competition season off to a stellar start. She reached the podium in the first four FIS Summer Grand Prix events, which was highlighted by her first major international victory.
The 24-year-old kicked off the circuit with a third place finish on the large hill in Courchevel on August 9. It was her first career podium on the Summer Grand Prix circuit. The next day, she stood on the top step of the podium with her score of 108.8 points, edging out Germany’s Selina Freitag for the win by half a point.
“It is a little upgrade from yesterday,” laughed Strate. “I’m still kind of overwhelmed with everything going on. I’ve never heard the Canadian anthem played on the podium for myself, so I was balling my eyes out. It was really good today. I’m so happy.”
Fast forward to this past weekend when Strate earned two third place finishes on the large hill in Wisla, Poland. She became just the second Canadian ski jumper to ever reach the podium in two straight events on back-to-back weekends, following teammate Alex Loutitt who had four consecutive third place finishes on the 2023 Summer Grand Prix.
“Right now, it feels a bit similar to when I got the (three straight) World Cup podiums, but it doesn’t feel as unexpected,” she said, recalling the podium streak she enjoyed from December 30, 2023 to January 3, 2024. “I know the jumps are good and I feel confident they will keep being good. It’s not just happening in competition. I’m also always in the top three or four right now in official training and qualifications.”
“In my heart, this is so fun, and I have many positive emotions,” added Strate. “It feels great for me now, but I know this isn’t when I want to be great. I really hope this can last until the start of the winter and through the season.”
Months before ski jumps are covered in snow, athletes travel down an in-run on which the tracks are made from porcelain and the grass on the slope is covered with water-soaked plastic.
The Summer Grand Prix is featuring a new spectator-friendly competition format in some of its events, including the one in which Strate took the win. Ski jumping results are typically based on adding together the scores of two final jumps. In the new format, athletes jumped in groups of five in the first round, with the top two in each group advancing to the second round. All those who advanced started the second round with zero points.
“I feel like I have to like (this new format),” laughed Strate. “There was some stress from everyone, but I like they are trying some different things to make the competitions more exciting for fans to watch.”
The Summer Grand Prix will resume in mid-September with two stops, including one at the Predazzo Ski Jumping Stadium, which will be the Olympic venue in February during Milano Cortina 2026. After the Grand Prix circuit concludes in later October, the FIS Ski Jumping World Cup will get underway in late November.
