Canadian ski jumper Alex Loutitt will be forced to sit out the 2026 Winter Olympics after suffering a knee injury during a Summer Grand Prix competition.
The 2023 world champion and 2022 Olympic bronze medalist was hurt on Friday while competing on the Olympic jumps in Val di Fiemme, Italy. Following treatment at a local hospital, she returned to Innsbruck, Austria, where she is scheduled to undergo knee surgery this week. Doctors expect the 21-year-old from Calgary to spend about a year in recovery before resuming competition.
Loutitt, who made history as the first Canadian ski jumper to win senior and junior world titles, has also collected 11 individual World Cup podium finishes, including two wins.
In a statement, she admitted the news was devastating: “I am heartbroken that this injury will prevent me from representing Canada at the upcoming Olympic Games. I feel like I’m letting down my family, teammates, and sponsors who have supported me. This is the hardest part to accept. But I know I’m still young and grateful for all I’ve already achieved. This is only a setback, not the end of my journey.”
The 2026 Milan-Cortina Olympics open on February 6.
In a separate development, Austrian luger Madeleine Egle, a two-time Olympic medalist, has also been ruled out after receiving a 20-month ban for missed doping tests, the International Testing Agency confirmed.
Egle, who won silver and bronze in the luge team relay at the last two Olympics, accepted the sanction, which runs until October 2026. The 27-year-old admitted last month that three whereabouts failures in a 12-month span had cost her dearly, though she insisted the lapses were due to “unfortunate coincidences” rather than attempts to evade testing.
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