Two Nights Tour “huge” for women’s ski jumping – Loutitt

Alexandria Loutitt made her World Cup debut for Canada less than a month after turning 16 and in the years since, the now 20-year-old has made ‘making history’ almost a regular occurrence.

'Why not me' is tattooed on the back of her hand and you will soon understand why.

In 2022 she was part of the line-up who claimed her nation’s first-ever Olympic ski jumping medal, with bronze coming in the inaugural Mixed Team discipline at the Beijing Games.

Less than 12 months on, she became the first Canadian woman to win a World Cup event in the sport, but that was just the start of an astounding couple of months.

Just weeks later Loutitt would become Canada’s maiden female World junior ski jumping champion, before she attained her nation’s first-ever senior World title in the sport. She ended the 2023/24 campaign “really proud” after placing third in the overall World Cup standings.

This season, the World champion has not quite found the form to match her traditional high-standards and in her own words has "struggled a lot."

However, there have been promising signs. Loutitt topped qualifying for the first World Cup in Lillehammer and placed second ahead of Engelberg, before finishing fifth in Switzerland.

The Canadian heads into the Two Nights Tour “excited” about not only her potential, but also by the opportunity to compete on one her favourite hills; Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

The German HS142 hill, which prior to several modernisations hosted the 1936 Olympic Winter Games ski jumping contests, is the base for the first of two World Cup events which form the ‘Two Nights Tournament’.

It runs from 30-31 December, before the field reassemble in Oberstdorf (GER) on 1 January for the second contest, after which the athlete with the highest overall score will be crowned the champion.

“I think I’ve kind of figured out my issues and I’m kind of just working on enjoying the sport right now, having fun and loving what I’m doing,” she tells FIS.

“I am a really big fan of Garmisch, I lived here for a couple of years, before moving to Slovenia to train with the national team so I have a little bias towards Garmisch and it’s a hill I’ve had some really incredible jumps on, which I’d like to show in competition.”

“Oberstdorf is a hill that I don’t have a love for, but I also don’t have a hate for it, it’s just another hill for me but Garmish is a special place, so I’m very excited to be jumping here.”

Women’s ski jumping made its long-awaited Olympic debut back at the Sochi 2014 Games and the sport has witnessed significant global growth in the decade since.

The ‘Two Nights Tournament’ was originally known as the ‘Silvester Tour’ and took place across Austria and Slovenia, before being rebranded as the ‘Two Nights Tour’ for the 2023/24 campaign.

With the two fixtures taking place in Germany, it marks a step towards the creation of a competition to match the men’s prestigious Four Hills Tournament, which begins in Oberstdorf, before moving to Garmisch-Partenkirchen.

That event concludes following two further World Cups in Austria and while those are yet to materialise for women, encouraging discussions have been had and there is optimism a women’s Four Hills contest could be created around 2026.

“In ski jumping you have the Olympic Winter Games, World Championships and Four Hills Tournament, so we need something of that equivalent for the women,” Loutitt tells FIS. 

“I think that the ‘Two Nights Tour’ is really important and a huge step for women’s ski jumping because it’s exciting and a big event, but it’s not quite at that (Four Hills) level.

“So, either we need to build it towards that level or work towards something that is the same as that, but as I say I think it (‘Two Nights Tour’) is a really big step.”

Loutitt placed ninth in the inaugural edition of the contest and aims to not only improve on that performance, but enjoy the experience to a greater level this year.

“I think having a large crowd at an event like this makes a huge difference, because the atmosphere is just so exciting, it’s so unbelievable and it’s so much fun to be a part of,” she says.

“It’s something that makes the butterflies in your stomach turn and it just makes the ski jumping so much more enjoyable.

Loutitt continued; “Even if it’s not your crowd or home crowd and they’re cheering for someone else it’s still just so fun.”

FIS 'Two Nights Tour' – schedule

Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER) – HS142

30.12.2024 – 17:30 – Start Qualification – QUA Women's LH
31.12.2024 – 16:20 – Competition start – WC Women's LH

Oberstdorf (GER) – HS137

01.01.2025 – 14:45 – Start Qualification – QUA Women's LH
01.01.2025 – 16:15 – Competition start – WC Women's LH