Women Ski Jumpers Grounded Again at Winter Olympics

By Lisa Bennett, Communications Director

February 20, 2010

The Olympics in Vancouver aren't even over, so why is NOW already looking toward the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia? Because that's the next opportunity for the Winter Games to take that final step toward gender equality.

There's no denying the great triumphs being made by women athletes in Vancouver right now. These games even include an alternate on the Canadian curling team, Kristie Moore, who is five-and-a-half-months pregnant, plus the first-ever Olympic Pride House for LGBT athletes and their allies. But something's not quite right. Something's missing at the 2010 Games, namely the women's ski jump competition.

Two years ago NOW was contacted by Women's Ski Jumping USA (WSJ USA), the non-profit organization that supports these incredible athletes. They alerted us to a fact that not everyone knows -- women's ski jumping has always been and continues to be excluded from the Winter Olympics. A major push was on to get the women's event admitted in time for the 2010 Games, and NOW agreed to support their efforts. Our Feb. 24, 2008, press statement read, in part:

Women's ski jumping has grown significantly in the last two decades, with athletes from 18 nations on three continents now participating at the international level. Still, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) refused to budge, so the ski jumpers initiated a gender discrimination lawsuit against the Vancouver Organizing Committee. The case was successful in principle -- the British Columbia Supreme Court ruled that discrimination was taking place -- but no remedy could be enforced because the IOC is not required to obey Canada's laws or follow the directives of the local organizing committee.

Thus, yet another Olympics kicked off this month with no women's ski jumping on the schedule. Ironically, the record-holder (male or female) for longest jump off the same "K95 Normal" hill being used at the 2010 Games is a woman, U.S. competitor Lindsey Van. Just last year Van became the first-ever U.S. skier, man or woman, to win a gold medal in the Ski Jumping World Championships. And, get this: because the women's team is so under-funded, when they travel around the world to compete, sometimes they have stayed in barns -- that's right, barns, with animals in them and no heat or hot water! -- while the men ski jumpers stayed in hotels. And as long as the women continue to be barred from Olympic competition, funding will remain scarce.

It's truly a shame all around. The women jumpers are missing the opportunity of a lifetime, millions of spectators are missing the joy of watching these talented athletes compete, and girls everywhere are missing the chance to witness some admirable role models in action.

To make matters worse, this stands as a prime example of how women are excluded from "men-only" arenas and then punished for speaking up for themselves. In a documentary by journalism grad student Anna Bloom, posted on MSNBC.com, IOC member Dick Pound of Canada warns that the committee might say: "Oh yeah, I remember them. They're the ones that embarrassed us and caused us a lot of trouble in Vancouver. Maybe they should wait another four years. Or eight years or whatever it may be."

Despite Pound's thinly veiled threats, things are looking up for women at the 2014 games in Russia. In an optimistic and admittedly strategic move, WSJ USA has invited the Russian women's ski jumping team to come to Park City, Utah, this June to train and commune with the U.S. women's team.

With increased public pressure, it seems that the IOC has no choice but to add the women's event at the next Olympics, and they have plenty of time to fit it into the schedule. Still, the women have gotten their hopes up before, only to have them dashed again and again. Some of the more senior competitors will most likely retire before having the honor to compete at a Winter Olympics. But there are plenty of young women and girls following right behind them, and they don't want to wait any longer to fly.

Sign WSJ USA's petition (right now it says 2010, but it will be updated for 2014 soon)

Watch the video by Anna Bloom