Calgary's Abigail Strate earns bronze at ski jumping Summer Grand Prix in Poland
Strate, a graphic designer when not taking flight off hills around the world, racked up 231.4 points in her two attempts.
Slovenia's Nika Prevc won gold at 247.9, while Japan's Nozomi Maruyama earned silver with 240.5 points.
Calgary's Nicole Maurer was the only other Canadian in the deep field, finishing 19th at 156.3.
Strate opened the Olympic campaign last weekend with a bronze medal in France. It was her first career summer ski jumping podium. She delivered a golden encore, celebrating her first international victory a day later.
"I'm definitely flying with greater confidence. I knew I was training really well. My jumping has been progressing and is more consistent, so I think my whole jump is more confident than it's ever been," said Strate in a Ski Jumping Canada media release. "Each one of these successes builds on that. I'm loving ski jumping, and ski jumping is loving me right now, so the confidence just grows with each jump I take that works out. I am looking to keep it going."
Strate is taking a new approach this season into her flight path that is headed towards the 2026 Olympic Winter Games in February.
"I decided this year I'm leaving nothing out. I'm putting everything I have into this season. Subconsciously I think I always held myself back a bit, but I'm looking to crack into my full potential this year and leave nothing out there," added Strate, who was part of Canada's Olympic bronze medal winning squad in the mixed-team event in 2022. "I'm taking that approach every day. I'm happy with the result and looking to improve the quality of the jumps again tomorrow."
She will launch off the HS134 hill in Poland with the best in the world once again on Sunday.
This is the second time in her career that Strate has had three consecutive podiums.
She closed out 2023 with a bronze and silver medal before ringing in 2024 with another bronze.
The only other podium finish in Strate's eight-year career came when she won the bronze in Hinterzarten, Germany in January 2023. Three of Strate's four medals in winter leaping have also come on large hills.
"It's weird because I actually jump better on a 90 metre hill. I just haven't trained as much on the large hills. Flying is where I usually make my mistakes, and when you jump on a large hill you obviously fly longer. But, when I'm jumping well it works on both," she said. "Jumping well is about confidence, and when I'm confident, I won't hold myself back and am willing to push myself which you have to do in a sport like this.
Ski jumping is performed in the summer on an in-run where the tracks are made from porcelain and the grass on the slope is covered with water-soaked plastic.
A core part of an athlete's development and season-long competition schedule, summer ski jumping began in 1994 for men. Women began jumping competitively during the summer months in 2012.
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