After surprise bronze in Beijing, Canada's ski jumpers continue rising despite troubles of success

When Janko Zwitter came aboard as Canada's ski jumping coach in 2021, he faced a choice.

With the final ski jumping hill in Canada closed, the team could either integrate with the Americans south of the border or centralize itself in Slovenia for training.

Zwitter pushed for the latter, won out, and saw immediate dividends with a surprising mixed-team bronze medal at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

Now, less than one year away from the Milan Olympics, the team remains in Slovenia — but plenty has changed.

"Every year, you're facing new challenges. Bringing them together was the easiest at the beginning. Now to hold them together is the next challenge.

"And to represent the country, which should be really competitive at world champs, at Olympic games and stuff like that, will be the next challenge," Zwitter said.

Next, the Canadians will head to Trondheim, Norway, for the Nordic world championships, where ski jumping competition begins Thursday and runs through March 9.

In the time since the Olympic breakout, Alexandria Loutitt became a world champion and climbed 10 World Cup podiums, winning two gold medals. Abi Strate has captured five World Cup medals, the latest of which was a bronze on Sunday. Zwitter said he may be most pleased with Nicole Maurer, who's risen from outside the top-50 into the top-20 at some events.

WATCH l Loutitt tops podium with second career World Cup victory:

Calgary's Alexandria Loutitt captures gold in Japan

The coach said he expects to once again compete for the podium at worlds.

"We will fight for medals for sure. … As in every top sport, you can't promise anything, but if everything runs smooth, if everything is the way I think it will be, we will definitely be competitive," Zwitter said.

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