Female ski jumpers’ appeal hearing set for Nov. 12

VANCOUVER, British Columbia —A group of female ski jumpers will return to court in November to appeal a decision that prevents them from competing in the 2010 Vancouver Olympics.

The British Columbia Court of Appeal will hear the case Nov. 12-13. That’s just three months before the Olympics begin on Feb. 12.

A British Columbia Supreme Court Justice ruled last month that the International Olympic Committee was discriminating against female ski jumpers by keeping them out of the games. But Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon said the court lacks the power to order the sport to be included on the program for the Vancouver Olympics.

Ross Clark, the lawyer representing the 14 current and former ski jumpers, said his argument will focus on the finding of discrimination and the judge’s ruling that the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee, known as VANOC, is a government entity.

“The Supreme Court judge found the women had been discriminated against and she found that VANOC is carrying out a government activity,” Clark said in a statement. “But then she stopped short of the next logical step which would have been to grant us the remedy we were seeking. We will ask the Court of Appeal to revisit that.”

The women went to court in April to argue that their exclusion from the games violated the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They wanted a court declaration that VANOC must either add women’s ski jumping to the Vancouver Olympics or cancel all ski jumping events.

John Furlong, VANOC’s chief executive officer, said recently that organizers would abide by a court’s ruling.

Time could be running out for the women. A split decision in the Appeal Court likely would prompt a bid to put the issue to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Fenlon said in her decision that the IOC, not VANOC, decides which sports will be included at the games. The international committee is not governed by the Charter, nor does the organization fall under her court’s jurisdiction, Fenlon wrote.

The judge also said VANOC falls under the Charter but “not every act of discrimination is a breach of the Charter.”

The IOC has said its decision to not allow female ski jumping was based on “technical issues, without regard to gender.”