Alexandria Loutitt is having the best 18th birthday ever.
Not only has the aspiring Gwich’in ski jumper circumnavigated the globe over the last few weeks, she also won an Olympic medal for Canada while doing it.
“My body doesn’t know what time zone it’s in,” she said. “I’ve been through every time zone in the past however many days.”
The Calgary-based jumper said her medal-winning jump felt different than any before it. She was relaxed, because her team’s results to that point meant they could finish no worse than sixth place.
“So I was smiling, I felt good and I was pretty relaxed. I just went into it looking like it was no different than any other competition. Although there’s Olympic rings everywhere, it doesn’t change my competitors — they’re the same as when I’m competing in the World Cup.”
Loutitt won the bronze medal in Beijing along with teammates Matthew Soukup, Abigail Strate and Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes for Team Canada on Feb. 7. Loutitt soared 90 metres to score 101.4 points.
This is the first time Canada has ever won a medal in ski jumping. For Loutitt, the win was as big as a surprise as it was for everyone else.
“It was the second round, we were standing at the bottom, and were like ‘Oh my God, we moved up a spot. We could actually medal! This is actually happening’ — and every time someone jumped and we’d move up one and we couldn’t believe it,” she said. “I can’t even explain the emotions. We were so happy and excited. Our goal was eighth to sixth. So it was a pretty big deal.
“And I’m getting to do it with my friends, so it’s even better than an individual cup in a way.”
An ‘unexplainable’ feeling
It’s been a long way to the top. Loutitt said she and her teammates put in four to five hours of training a day, for six-to-seven days a week during the off-season.
She joked that she’s so used to her fitness routine that when she has to remind herself of her lifestyle when she describes it to others.
“It’s been like that for a couple of years, so it’s nothing abnormal for us,” she said. “But when you say it to a person who isn’t training, they can’t really understand how easy it is for us. It’s kind of just our life now.
“It’s not just the sport itself, ski jumping is this unexplainable feeling — you feel yourself creating lift and you get this shot of adrenaline. It’s such an exciting feeling and you feel powerful.”
Loutitt credited her team, parents, friends and support network for helping her get to where she is.
Part of what keeps her in the sport, she said, was the close-knit community in the Canadian ski jumping circuit.
“I think community is a really important part of sport,” she said. “I know so many incredible women — and men too, but I know the women better just because our circuits are aligned — but so many incredible and bad-ass women. Being part of this insane community of girls who are working their butts off to show the world how great they are and that women are capable of being successful athletes.”
In spite of soaring through the heavens, Loutitt is keeping her feet firmly on the ground. She said she wants to help youth in the North and across Canada realize their dreams like she did.
‘How can I make this work?’
Having a strong support team who can help pick you up when you’re feeling down and give you the time to focus on your passion is key, she said.
She also emphasized the importance of being willing to learn new things, accept criticism and be able to listen to coaches or other mentors.
Other nuggets of advice she had include being prepared to adapt, including being prepared move to where you need to be to reach your goals. And prioritize those goals.
“You need to be able to look at a situation and say ‘How can I make this work?’, ‘How can I make myself the best I can be?’ — and you need to develop these skills. No one is going to be perfect when they first start trying to learn and adapt, they’re definitely something you get better at over time.
“You need to find a support system — it doesn’t have to be family, it can be friends, it can be coaches, it doesn’t matter who. But as long as you have a few people who you can turn to when you are struggling — because sports are hard, they’re a roller-coaster with ups and downs and the big picture moves along with it. To have someone who is able to support you through that is very important for mental health and well-being.
“Even if it’s the smallest amount, anything makes a difference. There’s many small actions that have resonated with me.”
‘Want to thank everybody’
Loutitt first tried out ski jump when she was 9 and was instantly hooked. Since then, she’s clocked enough air-time that when she entered international competition at age 15, she hit the ground like a rocket, having stood on the highest of podiums only a few years later.
There’s no rest for champions, however. After a brief stopover in Calgary to watch the Superbowl with her mother, Loutitt was back on the plane to Austria to compete in the World Championships — all by herself this time.
While the Olympics are where the spotlight is, Loutitt said this would be the real competition.
“For me, the World Junior Championships is the event that I’m going to fight for the gold,” she explained. “So I’ve been focusing on that and my ideas have shifted from being at the Olympics on to World Champs. I’m pretty confident I can do well there.”