Women ski jumpers refuse to back down

Ken has a post up at After Atalanta that pleases me. Women ski jumpers, sick and tired of being told by the International Olympic Committee that their bodies are too fragile to compete in their sport at the Olympics, have filed a complaint with the Canadian Human Rights Commission. The HRC has no jurisdiction over the IOC, sure, but I am for anything that keeps the issue out in the open and forces the IOC to deal with its own ridiculous notion about women competing.

The IOC has long held the notion that ski jumping--actually, the landing--puts too much pressure on women's bones. As Ken correctly points out, why are they allowing gymnastics and figure skating?

Telling women they are too fragile to compete is nothing new, however. There were no women's distance races at the Olympics until the 1980s because the IOC thought women's bodies were too fragile for distance racing. This was kind of peculiar, given that women were doing distance racing all over the world, and holding up just fine, thank you.

Of course, at one point in the first half of the 20th Century, the IOC considered doing away with all women's events. And in ancient Greece, women not only were not allowed to compete, but if they watched the games, they were subject to execution.