A loss helped bring about a win for Canadian women ski jumpers

by Charlie Smith on January 26th, 2014 at 12:03 PM

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Canadian female ski jumpers are finally on their way to the Olympics.

Atstuko Tanaka, Alexandra Pretorius, and Taylor Henrich will join male ski jumpers Mackenzie Boyd-Clowes, Trevor Morrice, Dusty Korek, and Matthew Rowley.

The trio posed for a photo at the Vancouver International Airport.

Their admission to the Olympics came after a high-profile legal fight failed to permit women ski jumpers to compete in the 2010 Games in Vancouver.

In 2009, the B.C. Court of Appeal ruled that Vanoc could not be held responsible for the International Olympic Committee's decision to bar them at that time.

The court determined that Vanoc, which staged the 2010 Winter Olympics in Vancouver, was subject to the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.

It prohibits discrimination on the basis of gender.

However, B.C.'s highest court ruled that the charter "does not apply to the selection of events for the 2010 Olympic Games".

Even though the women lost in court, it helped shame Olympic officials into reversing their decision in time for the 2014 Games in Sochi.