The Associated Press (AP) reports Olympic officials say they need more time to review women’s ski jumping and other events before they decide whether to include them in the Sochi 2014 Winter Olympic Games.
AP reports two senior officials saying the International Olympic Committee (IOC) looks “favourably” on the proposed events, but won’t make a final decision until next year. An official announcement is yet to be made.
The women’s ski jumping event has been turned down twice for the inclusion at the Vancouver 2010 Games because, according to the IOC, the sport lacked enough elite competitors. The women jumpers took their case to the Supreme Court of Canada, but the IOC decision was not overturned.
The IOC will now wait to assess the quality of competition at the 2011 world championships.
Also proposed for inclusion are slopestyle events in men’s and women’s snowboard and Alpine freestyle, men’s and women’s ski halfpipe, a parallel racing Alpine team event, mixed relay in biathlon, a team event in figure skating, and a luge team relay competition. Some are expected to gain approval.
IOC President Jacques Rogge has said he supports the addition of women’s jumping if the number of top competitors continues to grow.
