There may be hope yet.
Last week a lawsuit was filed in the British Columbia Supreme Court on behalf of some of the women ski jumpers.
“Women ski jumpers meet all the technical and universality requirements,” said Deedee Corradini, Women’s Ski Jumping-USA (WSJ-USA) President. “There are certainly more than enough qualified women jumping from more than enough countries. The women are ready and we have tried to communicate that to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), but to no avail. We were forced to conclude it is a matter of discrimination and decided we had no choice but to launch a lawsuit.”
The lawsuit names the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC) as respondent, Corradini said. The statement of claim asks the Court to allow women’s as well as men’s ski jumping events to go ahead in Vancouver in 2010. The individual plaintiffs include six of the top 10 internationally ranked female ski jumpers in the world, including athletes from Norway, Germany, Austria, Slovenia and the United States. Marie-Pierre Morin, a retired Canadian Ski Jump National Champion and Karla Keck, a retired American National Champion are plaintiffs as well.
We’ll have to keep an eye on this. Not to allow these women to compete is beyond the beyond. Good luck, ladies! We’re rooting for you!
