BC Appeal Court dismisses appeal by women ski jumpers to compete in 2010 Games
VANCOUVER, B.C. - Faith that Canada's charter would trump the Olympic charter was shattered Friday for a group of female ski jumpers fighting to be included in the 2010 Winter Olympic Games.
Faces graced with hopeful smiles during two days of hearings crumpled into tears when a three-judge panel of the B.C. Court of Appeal unanimously dismissed their case Friday.
The women were appealing a lower court ruling that allowed Games organizers to hold a men's ski jumping competition but not a women's event - something the women say violated their charter rights.
They had asked the courts for a declaration that VANOC must comply with the charter, meaning there either had to be events for both genders or none at all.
Vancouver organizers argued that because the decision not to include a women's event was made by the International Olympic Committee under the terms of its own charter, Canada's charter doesn't apply.
"I thought they would go the other way, for sure," said reigning world champion ski jumper, Lindsay Van, of Utah, as she wiped away tears after the decision.
"I thought we had a very good argument that was very much set and it didn't seem it would go the other direction."
Outside the court after the decision was announced, some of the women hugged one another for support.
Van said without a Games to aspire to, it's hard to predict what will happen to her sport.
"It's not any different than it was, we didn't lose anything, we just didn't gain anything," said Van.
"From here our sport just is stagnant, it doesn't go anywhere."
With the Games less than three months away, the B.C. Appeal Court made the ruling Friday afternoon, immediately after hearing two days of arguments.
The women could seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but that process would take months. They could also ask the appeal court to suspend their ruling pending an appeal.
"I'm not going to commit to anything, but I think it's very late," said Ross Clark, the lawyer for the women.
The Appeal Court judges did not give reasons for their decision, and gave no timeline for releasing the reasons in written form.
Clark said he thought the appeal process was fair, and he didn't want to speculate on why his legal arguments failed to sway the judges.
Vancouver Games organizers said they were glad the process was over, but they were sad for the women.
"I don't like these kinds of days, we are first and foremost men and women of sport and we believe in athletics," said John Furlong, VANOC's chief executive officer.
"This is a matter that's been far from our reach and our influence and we simply didn't have any jurisdiction here … these girls have tried very hard, they have put up a very good fight."
VANOC pointed out that the organization has hosted and funded several women's ski jumping events since the Olympic facilities opened almost two years ago.
Calgary jumper Charlotte Mitchell said she was crushed by the decision, but it's not over.
"We did have a fair trial we think, we just can't give up, we've just got to keep fighting," Mitchell said.
The case raised questions about exactly who is in control of the Games. For the charter to apply, the body in question must be either a government agency or carrying out a government program.
The women had argued that the Games are a government activity.
But VANOC argued the government had no decision-making power over the Olympics, as that power rests solely with the IOC.
The international body voted in 2006 not to include women's ski jumping at the Games, saying the sport had not met the required technical criteria and to add them would violate elements of the Olympic charter that govern the operations of a Games.
Ski jumping is the only sport at either the Winter or Summer Games without events for both men and women since the IOC voted earlier this year to include women's boxing at the Summer Olympics.
Women's ski jumping will be on the program for the upcoming 2010 Youth Olympic Games and the international body that governs ski jumping has said they will press for its inclusion for the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, Russia.
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