Pound fearful over impact of women's ski jumping saga on Canada

By Gerard Meagher, Sportsbeat

 IOC MEMBER Dick Pound believes Canada's chances of hosting another future Olympics could be scuppered if the British Columbia Court of Appeal orders Vancouver 2010 organisers to stage female ski jumping.

 MAJOR CONCERNS: Canadian IOC member DIck Pound is fearful of impact of women's ski jumping saga

At present, a group of female ski jumpers are appealing against a high court decision which ruled that VANOC did not have to stage a competition for them at next February's Winter Olympics.

The female athletes took VANOC to the high court, arguing that the organising committee were contravening the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms by allowing men to jump but not women.

Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon sympathised with the athletes but ruled it was not within her power to overturn a ruling, which was ultimately that of the IOC and not accountable to the Charter.

The group have written to IOC president Jacques Rogge on more than one occasion to plead their case but have had little success, while the outcome of the appeal will be heard on November 12.

And Pound believes the long-running saga could significantly damage Canada's chances of hosting the Games in the future.

"This is a very important point. We would screw Canada's chances of ever getting major events again," said Pound, who is a member of VANOC's board of directors. "Like the Olympics again someday.

"If they order VANOC to put on the event, there will be ski jumping. But the IOC is not going to consider them an Olympic event or award medals. As night follows day, that will be the result."

But the female athletes did receive support from within the IOC from Anita DeFrantz, head of the IOC women and sports commission.

"Discrimination is treating a certain group of people in a way that you haven't treated other people," she said. "So for them to say that there are too few athletes in ski jumping that you can't jump is wrong."

Rogge, however, disputes the claims that opting against introducing women's ski jumping at the Vancouver Olympics is discriminatory.

"When the court issued its finding we issued a press release saying really clearly that we did not accept that there was any form of discrimination," he said.

"When the IOC executive board again decided to include women's boxing, it was reiterated that this was the sign that we had absolutely no discriminatory attitude toward women in sport."

The IOC voted in 2007 not to include women's' ski jumping on the Olympic schedule until at least the 2014 Sochi Games, believing the sport was not yet sufficiently developed on a global scale.

But women's ski jumping will be included in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in Innsbruck, Austria in 2012.

Gender discrimination has been a prevalent topic at the IOC Session in Copenhagen, with Tunisian IOC member Mohammed Mzali making inappropriate comments with regards to women's boxing and Rogge accusing three countries of failing to support their female athletes in sport.