That鈥檚 because women aren鈥檛 allowed to compete in skijumping events. But a group of persistent athletes are trying to change that. Todayand tomorrow, Lindsey Van and a handful of her teammates and competitors are appealing a former ruling in the courts of British Columbia. They hope a verdict in their favor will force the OlympicCommittee to institute a women鈥檚 event in the traditionally Euroand macho sport of ski jumping.听
These elite athletes have endured appalling hardships in the name of pursuing their sport, from being pushed from the competition platform in Poland to sleeping in barns during competitions for lack of funds. And believe this: Gian Franco Casper, president of the International Federation of Skiing, was once quoted as suggesting that women's uteruses might be damaged from repeated jumps (and therefore perhaps they shouldn't compete). Riiiiight. Can you tell where I stand?听
Read the whole story as reported by the Christian Science Monitor .听To help the cause, to thenon-profit organization Women鈥檚 Ski Jumping U.S.A. 听听
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