The International Olympic Committee can be a baffling
organization.
At their recent meeting in Kuwait, they voted to
allow Olympics competition in an obscure new sport
called ski cross, while denying deserving women
the opportunity of competing in the traditional
winter sport of ski jumping. Never mind few have
ever heard of ski cross, while scores of talented
women across the world compete regularly in internationally
sanctioned ski jumping events!
Something's terribly unfair, even blatantly hypocritical,
when the IOC uses sexist arguments and old-fashioned
logic to slam the door on women ski jumpers for
the Olympics. One IOC member is even quoted as saying
ski jumping "seems not to be appropriate for
ladies from a medical point of view." This
from an organization that allows women to play hockey,
drive bobsleds, and race downhill!
KSL urges the IOC to reconsider its illogical decision.
And we encourage the members of the U.S. women's
ski jumping team who live and train in Park City
to continue to demonstrate their world-class qualifications
as ski jumpers with an eye to changing attitudes
and minds.
There's simply no valid reason for the International
Olympic Committee to keep women from competing in
ski jumping in the winter Olympics.
