Olympic-Sized Inequity

I am a fan of the Olympic Games, both Winter and Summer. During the Winter Games presently playing out in Vancouver, I watched a little skiing, some hockey, but my biggest draw has been curling. However, I did hear on The Rachel Maddow Show a little over a week ago an interesting fact about ski jumping.

Apparently, all of the participating sports in the Winter Olympics have both men and ladies competitions except ski jumping, despite overwhelming support from the International Ski Federation.

Their endorsement could not sway the IOC, even though Lindsey Van set the distance record at Whistler, BC, the same venue where the Olympic ski jumping takes place. The reasons the IOC gave for not allowing womens' ski jumping in the 2010 Games are numerous and asinine, but it sheds more light on the inequities in sport.

On the other hand, there is always pro tennis where dollar for dollar the women champions make more than the men (in the Grand Slam tournaments anyway).

Comments

Slyfox said…
I was also astounded when I heard that seemingly more qualified females were not allowed to compete simply because they were females. Not a single excuse that was uttered gave a rational reason for that sexist rule.

As important as that information is, I believe you did a service to people who believe in equality buy tellingt them about "The Rachel Maddow Show".

In my humble opinion this Lady is 1st class in the World for her research and ability to explain inequities in society.

I record every show of her's so as to not miss valuable information that is researched and Correct !

Thanks Lomnoir
February 22, 2010 at 11:27 AM
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