March 25, 2009 (Denver, Colorado) – The fifteen international women ski jumpers suing for the right to participate in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Winter Games have asked IOC President Jacques Rogge to meet with two of their representatives during his stay in Denver this week.

World Champion and American national team member Lindsey Van and Canadian national team member Katie Willis have come to Denver today in hopes of having a private discussion with Mr. Rogge that may result in the IOC’s re-consideration of its 2006 decision to bar the women ski jumpers from competing in 2010.

“We’re ready. Our sport has developed incredibly in the three years since that decision and we would really appreciate the opportunity to tell our story to him personally,” Van explained. “The number of women competing has soared, as has the number of countries participating. In fact, we out-number women in sports like bobsleigh, luge, ski-cross and snowboard cross, which are already in the Olympics.”

Van, Willis and the other 13 plaintiffs represent 160 elite female ski jumpers from 18 countries who compete internationally at the sport’s highest level. They are asking for a single event on the normal hill in 2010. Ski jumping is the only event in the Winter Olympics that still does not allow women to compete.

If the IOC does not reconsider its 2006 decision, their legal case against VANOC citing gender discrimination will go to hearing on April 20 in British Columbia Supreme Court.

In related developments, the City Council of Vancouver unanimously passed a resolution on March 3 demanding VANOC and the IOC include the women ski jumpers in the 2010 Olympic Games. And on Feb. 27, a bill was introduced to the House of Commons in Canada asking Parliament to ensure women ski jumpers are included in 2010.

The 15 women ski jumpers who are plaintiffs include Katie Willis, Meaghan Reid, Jade Edwards, Nata de Leeuw, Charlotte Mitchell, Marie-Pierre Morin and Zoya Lynch (Canada), Anette Sagen (Norway), Lindsey Van, Jessica Jerome and Karla Keck (USA), Ulrike Graesler and Jenna Mohr (Germany), Monica Planinc (Slovenia), and Daniela Iraschko (Austria).