Ski Jumping

In a letter dated September 18, 2009, IOC president Jacques Rogge again denied the appeals of a group of women ski jumpers hoping to be included at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic Games.

A letter was sent to the IOC in early September asking for clarification on how women's ski jumping has failed to meet the technical requirements for inclusion at an Olympic Games.

In an initial exchange of letters in August, Rogge had denied the women's request, stating "the reason why we took the decision not to include women's ski jumping was made strictly on a technical basis and absolutely not on gender grounds."

The most recent letter from the IOC fails to provide any additional details, stating "We continue to work... for ‘the inclusion of women in the Olympics and in amateur sports', as well as in the fields of sports leadership and administration, and your commitment to your sport and its development will greatly assist in this domain."

"We are disappointed it does not address our specific query about the technical requirements we fail to meet," said the women in a statement released Sept., 18, 2009.

"We are confident we do indeed meet all the universality and technical requirements needed to participate fully at the Olympics. We will now concentrate our efforts on the appeal of our legal case to be heard in the BC Court of Appeal Nov. 12-13, 2009."