Ski Jumping

VANCOUVER - The fight by female ski jumpers to have their sport included at the 2010 Winter Games returns to a B.C. courtroom Thursday.

With just three months to go until the Olympics, lawyers for 14 female jumpers are appealing a decision by a B.C. Supreme Court judge that Vancouver organizers don't have the power to decide which sports are part of the Games.

At issue in the first trial was whether the Games were a government activity and if they were, whether they were subject to the Charter.

The judge decided they were, but went on to say in the July ruling that it's only the International Olympic Committee who can include their sport, and the committee isn't subject to the Charter.

So, she declined to give the jumpers the declaration they were looking for _ that if Vancouver organizers are hosting ski jumping events, they have to be for both genders.

That's why the jumpers are going back to court, said Ross Clark, a lawyer for the women.

He said they agreed with 90 per cent of the judge's ruling, and even agree that it is up to the IOC to make the decision on the sport program.

But, he said, that doesn't mean that the Vancouver committee, known as VANOC, can break the law.

"What we're saying is that VANOC, in hosting the jumping, is carrying out an activity of the government and because of that, it is bound by the Charter,'' he said.

VANOC has stressed that they've worked hard to support the sport of women's ski jumping but their hands are tied when it comes to whether or not it can have a role at the Games.

"We will continue to do everything we can to help these athletes achieve their goal,'' Cathy Priestner-Allinger, vice-president of sport and operation for VANOC, said in a statement.

"We provided them with free access to the jumps at Whistler Olympic Park; we helped sponsor and stage several elite national and international competitions, we helped create programs to introduce more women to the sport; we welcomed one of these young ladies to participate in the Torch Relay on the first day of the relay.''

Charlotte Mitchell, one of the 14 women involved in the lawsuit, was a torch bearer on Oct. 30.

In their appeal documents, VANOC challenges the lower court's ruling that the Charter even applies in the case.

"(The Charter) only requires the equal distribution of the benefits of the law. The benefit the Appellants were denied - the opportunity to participate in the Games through an Olympic event - can only be provided by the IOC, not by any Canadian law,'' the committee argues.

"VANOC has not denied the appellants any benefit that it (or any Canadian government) can provide. It is staging the Olympic events with complete respect for gender equality and would be doing so for women's ski jumping had the IOC included it as an Olympic event.''

The appeal will be heard over two days by a panel of judges at the B.C. Court of Appeal in Vancouver.

The judges may issue a decision right away given the timeline attached to the case or they might reserve judgement.

VANOC has said in the past that they do not have any contingency plans in place in the event they find themselves suddenly faced with adding women's ski jumping to the program.

Among the things they would need to do are figure out when to hold the event, how many spectators it could accommodate, create and sell tickets, adjust transportation and security plans, as well as find space for the athletes and officials at the villages.

Men's ski jumping is the first event of the Games and the first round takes place even before the opening ceremonies. It's the only event on the schedule that day. There are two components: normal hill and long hill. The women are asking for participation in one of them.

"It goes back to the IOC and the IOC is going to have to make a decision,'' said Clark.

"They can cancel the men's ski jumping. They can decide they'll hold the men's ski jumping in another jurisdiction where they don't have equality rights, or they can add the women's.''

The likelihood that the case will disrupt the 2010 Games is extremely slim. Even if a judgment from the B.C. Court of Appeal is speedy, either side would have the ability to apply for an appeal at the Supreme Court of Canada, and that would probably mean the case could not be settled before the Games in February.