Women ski jumpers take legal action

FASTBREAK:

Non-inclusion in 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics

Agence France-Presse
First Posted 08:37:00 11/19/2008

Filed Under: Winter Olympics, Ski Jumping, Women

OTTAWA -- Women ski jumpers said on Tuesday they had taken legal action over the non-inclusion of their event in the 2010 Vancouver winter Olympics, claiming it was "discrimination."

The supreme court of the province of British Colombia will decide next April if the absence of women's ski jumping events is illegal or not.

The legal action was filed by six of the best women's ski jumpers against the Vancouver Olympic Organizing Committee (VANOC).

"We are satisfied that we have gone ahead with legal action," said group spokeswoman DeeDee Corradini. Others included in the six are former American champion Karla Keck and former Canadian Marie-Pierre Morin.

The men's ski jump competitions have been on the Olympic program since 1924 but the International Olympic Committee has refused to create a women's event, claiming there are not enough elite women to justify its inclusion.