VANCOUVER, British Columbia, Nov. 14 (UPI) -- A Canadian court has refused to order the Vancouver Organizing Committee to allow female ski jumpers to compete in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
A group of 14 woman skiers had sued, arguing the committee violated the Canadian Charter of Rights by scheduling ski-jumping events for men but not for women. The British Columbia Court of Appeals turned them down Friday afternoon after two days of arguments on whether the committee is a government entity covered by the charter, The Vancouver Sun reported.
The plaintiffs had been unable to sue the International Olympic Committee because the charter would not stretch to an international body. The IOC rejected women's ski jumping as an Olympic sport in 2010 on the grounds that it does not meet its criteria.
The ruling angered and upset the plaintiffs, reducing some to tears.
"From here our sport just stagnates, it doesn't go anywhere," Lindsey Van, a world champion jumper from the United States. "It just makes it seem like discrimination is OK in Canada and that the Canadian court system is a little bit weak if they can't stand up to the IOC and follow Canadian law."
