On Thurs Oct 19th, Olympian Abigail Strate gave us an inside look at the journey of a high level athlete from her start on skis at age 6 to stepping onto the podium to claim her bronze medal in Beijing in 2022. Tune in to learn more and try some of the exercises she does to warm up and get focused before a competition! Presented in partnership with PHE Canada.

Speaker biography:

Abigail Strate was part of a history-making moment in her Olympic debut at Beijing 2022. She and teammates Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Alexandria Loutitt, and Matthew Soukup won bronze in the inaugural Olympic mixed team ski jumping event. It was Canada’s first ever Olympic medal in ski jumping.

Strate made her World Cup debut during the 2016-17 season, and narrowly missed qualifying for the 2018 Olympics in Pyeongchang. In 2019, she suffered a catastrophic knee injury, tearing her ACL, LCL and meniscus, forcing her to take a year of rehab before returning to sport. The year she returned was a tough one, with the year prior’s injury in her right knee causing overcompensation, and leading to a stress fracture in her left tibia.

She returned in the Spring of 2021 to a brand new coaching staff, and a permanent plan to relocate to Slovenia to pursue her dreams in sport. It was following this summer that the results of her years of dedication and hard work started to pay off. Strate began recording personal best after personal best, ending the season with a 7th place at the World Cup in Hinzenbach, Austria, attending her first Olympics, and earning Canada’s first Olympic medal in ski jumping.

Last year, building off the Olympic success of her team, Strate continued to improve throughout the summer, and into the winter, where she recorded 21 top 15 finishes, her first World Cup podium and got the chance to ski fly in the first ever women’s event, with a select group of the 15 top female ski jumpers.

This summer has continued to show promise for Strate, as she has finished narrowly off the podium in 4th, 6th, 5th and 4th in France, Poland and Romania at this Summer’s Grand Prix competitions, the summer equivalent to the World Cup.

A Little More About Abi:

Getting into the Sport: Started ski jumping at age 6 and entered her first international competition at age 10 in Park City, Utah. She joined an annual trip to the US every year until she was 18, and competed in her first international FIS event in Austria when she was 14.

Off-season hobbies include skiing, mountain biking, running and beekeeping. She also attends university online at Toronto Film School (run out of York University) for Graphic Design.

Favourite motto: “Go as a River”