Women ski jumpers deserve chance to vault into Olympic legend

This article was originally on a blog post platform and may be missing photos, graphics or links. See About archive blog posts.

I know the case will depend on a judge’s interpretation of whether Canadian laws about gender discrimination apply to an Olympics in Canada rather than to the competitive merit of having women ski jumpers in the 2010 Winter Olympics.
I also know that one of the International Olympic Committee’s reasons to keep women jumpers out is totally specious and that the other is debatable.
The IOC claims jumping does not meet its universality standards, which I pointed out was patently wrong in a Blog after Lindsey Van of Park City, Utah, won the gold medal when women’s jumping made its world championship debut in February.
But I also noted the dramatic drop in quality from first to 10th at those worlds, which would seem to support the IOC argument about the discipline not being developed enough to get into the Olympics.
I have changed my mind about the quality issue after looking back at what happened when the women’s pole vault made its Olympic debut in 2000.
Go deep into the results of the 30 competitors in Sydney, and you will find that an 18-year-old Russian was among four women who failed three times to clear her first height, 13 feet, 1 1/2 inches, nearly two feet below the eventual winning height of U.S. vaulter Stacy Dragila.
On the surface, one might think that showed that the field had to be padded with vaulters who didn’t belong, even if the Russian in question performed below her past standard and even if good vaulters sometimes fail to clear a height.
But when I think about those caveats, I realize they are no different from the response Van gave when I asked her about the quality at worlds:
‘With any sport, there is a drop in the middle of the field,’’ she said. ‘There were really tough conditions, snowing off and on all day, with the wind blowing like a tornado at times, coming from all directions.
‘I don’t think these results show the entire level of the sport. It is pretty obvious we are capable of having a sport worthy of the world championships and Olympics.’’
And I would back that by maintaining the 18-year-old Russian vaulter has done pretty well since 2000, when she was motivated by a failure that made her seem unqualified for the Summer Games. Her record? Two Olympic gold medals, five world titles, 26 world records and the 10 highest leaps in history, topping out at 16 feet, 6 3/4 inches.
‘Where you start,’’ this vaulter has said, ‘isn’t necessarily where you end up.’’
So I hope Judge Lauri Ann Fenlon sides with the women ski jumpers in a hearing that is to end today. That would give jumping the start it needs to end up giving more young women a new outlet for their competitive urges, just as pole vaulting has done.
But I would rather see the IOC preempt the outcome — better late than never — by agreeing on its own to let the women jump. Doing the right thing before the judge rules would also allow the IOC to avoid a possibly precedent-setting decision that might affect its sovereignty over the operation of the Olympics.
To the IOC, I offer exhibit No. 1:
Yelena Isinbayeva.

— Philip Hersh

Vaulter Yelena Isinbayeva, top, has soared to Olympian heights. Ski jumper Lindsey Van, right, would like the same opportunity. Credit: Getty Images