Women fought to fly on the ski jumps at the 2010 Winter Olympics but were barred from competition, failing to convince the International Olympic Committee or judges in court of their right to flight. Yet Canada's Games marked a significant turning point for their fledgling sport.
From the ski jumps to the courtroom, the scrappy young women who struggled to compete in the only Winter Olympics sport limited to men alone drew the support of many inside and outside the sporting world.
The most prominent voice of support was that of former Governor General Michaëlle Jean, who in her role as vice-regal quietly spoke in favour of female jumpers with IOC president Jacques Rogge during the Vancouver Games. Rogge told Jean he was confident women would be jumping in 2014.
“Without a doubt, in the story of this thing, the stand that was taken in Canada was huge in the progress,” said Vic Method, vice-president of Women's Ski Jumping USA, which led the push in court. “It made this front and centre to the IOC. They can't ignore it now.”
A year after Vancouver, women likely are just two months away from official inclusion in the 2014 Sochi Games in Russia. Last fall, the IOC said it was “looking favourably” on adding seven new sports to its roster, including women's jumping.
The decision is set for April, after the IOC assesses the quality of competition at the world championships of the various sports. Women's ski jumping happens in Oslo on Feb. 25.
The IOC said no to women's ski jumping in late 2006, on the basis that the sport didn't have a sufficient number of skilled women from enough countries – an argument that IOC members continued to make as recently as last year. Of the current top 40 women, 14 countries are represented.
“We're just a group of girls who want to be treated fairly,” said Alissa Johnson, a U.S. jumper ranked No. 19 in the world. Last February, she watched from the stands as her brother Anders competed in the Olympics.
At 23, she's been through the trials of the past five years. “I can't promise I'll be at Sochi but if I still love it like I do now I will be there.”
A key push for the women came in court. When the IOC rejected the women for Vancouver, the Vancouver Organizing Committee was sued under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedom. A lower court found the women had been discriminated against but ruled the Swiss-based IOC was beyond the reach of the Canadian charter. The B.C. Court of Appeal rejected an appeal, just three months before the Games, and the Supreme Court refused to hear the case.
Outside the courts, the women were winning, on the jumps and among the public. Their first-ever world championships were held in 2009, won by Lindsey Van, a star U.S. jumper.
A year earlier she had leapt 105.5 metres on the normal hill at Callaghan Valley near Whistler, B.C., in some of the inaugural jumping at the Olympic venue. In a sport where it is stick-thin boy-like men who excel, Van's mark was barely surpassed by the elite at the Olympics, with the official record set at 108 metres by gold-medal champion Simon Ammann of Switzerland.
Next winter comes the first World Cup season for female jumpers. With about a dozen events tentatively planned, it will offer more prize money and exposure than their current circuit, the second-tier Continental Cup.
For Canada, one casualty of the protracted fight to get female jumpers into the Olympics is the loss of several top athletes. Given the time and money required to train and compete, promising young jumpers have chosen school over the mountains: Nata de Leeuw, Canada's top finisher at the 2009 championship, is at University of British Columbia, and Katie Willis attends McGill.
Canadian coach Brent Morrice still feels confident the country will field a strong team at Sochi and the team has been bolstered by $80,000 from Own the Podium, the first cash infusion from the organization.
It will be 15-year-old Taylor Henrich of Calgary who will fly the Canadian flag among the women in Oslo later this month. Ranked No. 32 in the world, Taylor first jumped at 8. “Scary at first,” she said, but she was quickly hooked. She is the first among a generation of female jumpers who carry on from those who fought the IOC in the past. “I'm planning on going to the Olympics,” Taylor said. “Hopefully we get in and I get in.”
