Calgary ski jumper Abigail Strate has a silver start to the World Cup season

Canada's Abigail Strate competes in the 1st round of the women's world cup ski jumping in Lillehammer, Norway, Saturday Nov. 22, 2025. (Geir Olsen/NTB Scanpix via AP)

LILLEHAMMER — Calgary’s Abigail Strate won the silver medal in the women’s large hill competition Saturday at the season-opening event of the World Cup ski jump circuit.

The 24-year-old fought tricky conditions to land jumps of 129 and 121 metres for a two-heat total of 259.7 points.

Nozomi Maruyama of Japan was first with 285.5 points, while Austria’s Lisa Eder was third with 255.4.

Strate won her sixth World Cup medal and matched her career-best performance. She also won silver at a World Cup event in Oberstdorf, Germany, on Jan. 1, 2024.

The women’s large hill competition will make its Olympic debut at the 2026 Games in Milan and Cortina, Italy.

Strate is Canada’s main Olympic hopeful in ski jumping after 2023 world and world junior women’s champion Alex Loutitt suffered a season-ending knee injury in September at a Summer Grand Prix event at the Olympic venue in Predazzo, Italy.

“Not a bad start. It feels really good,” Strate said. “I can’t really process that this is the life I’m living right now. I’ve struggled in this sport for so long. I always look at the top athletes with so much awe and now I’m up there regularly with them.

“Yes, it feels comfortable right now, but it’s insane.”

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 22, 2025.

The Canadian Press