THE CANADIAN PRESS
The federal government will continue to try to convince the International Olympic Committee to include women’s ski jumping at the 2010 Vancouver Games, a government official said following a meeting Friday in Calgary.
"We recognize this is the IOC’s decision," Jeffrey Kroeker, a spokesman for Helena Guergis, the federal sports minister, said in a telephone interview. "We disagree with their original decision and we hope to respectfully change their mind."
Kroeker wasn’t specific on what action Ottawa would take. It’s expected the federal government will have some discussions with the IOC prior to Olympic officials visiting Vancouver for a meeting next month.
"I think when the government of a host country makes the case, that in of itself should raise the attention of the IOC that this is an important matter," said Kroeker.
The Calgary meeting was attended by Chris Rudge, chief executive officer with the Canadian Olympic Committee; Brent Morrice, chairman of Ski Jumping Canada; and Cathy Priestner Allinger, vice-president of sport and venue management for the Vancouver Olympic Games Organizing Committee. Also attending were Sport Canada officials, senior officials from Guergis’s office and some parents of the women ski jumpers.
Rudge said "a good dialogue took place among all the parties" and the COC would do what it could to convince the IOC to change it’s mind.
He also admitted it won’t be easy to have women’s ski jumping included for 2010.
"We’ve all seen stranger things happen," Rudge said. "You never say never but obviously it will be very difficult."
The IOC voted in 2006 not to allow women’s ski jumping into the 2010 Games, saying the sport has not yet developed enough and that it didn’t meet basic criteria for inclusion.
Morrice said Ski Jumping Canada plans to ask the International Ski Association, known as FIS, to lobby the IOC for women’s ski jumping. FIS has already said it supports adding the sport to the Olympics.
"Unfortunately the decision does not lay within Canada," Morrice said.
Priestner Allinger said VANOC supports the sport but reiterated the organizing committee’s function is to host the Games.
"We reconfirmed to the participants that our role is to prepare and operate the field of play mandated through the IOC’s 2010 Olympic sport program and that we accept and respect the IOC’s decision," she said in a written statement.
"We also explained to the participants that the IOC Program Commission was established specifically to ensure fairness in the selection of new disciplines, and to remove organizing committees from exercising undue influence over sport program decisions for their Games. This also allows organizing committees to stay entirely focused on the major and complex task of preparing for the Games."
Jan Willis, the mother of ski jumper Katie Willis, attended the meeting and was satisfied with the progress.
"Each of the sports organizations have their individual jobs to do and different people to contact," she said. "They key is probably going to the International Ski Federation and moving on from there."
While encouraged by the support, Willis isn’t packing for Vancouver.
"It don’t think this is going to be easy," she said. "We’re probably going to need some time to really get things done. I think the main thing is there is some commitment from the different sports organizations and we all agree the women are ready and it is the right thing to do.
"I think Canada wants to take the lead on this."
The women ski jumpers argue not being included in the Olympics is a form of gender discrimination.
The IOC says it based its decision on "technical merit" and in no way was it discriminatory.