Ski jumpers not giving up Onward to Supreme Court of Canada By BOB MACKIN, SUN MEDIA

VANCOUVER -- Women hoping to ski jump at the 2010 Winter Olympics are going the distance.

Sun Media has learned that lawyers for 13 female ski jumpers will ask the Supreme Court of Canada on Tuesday afternoon for leave to appeal a Nov. 13 decision by the British Columbia Court of Appeal.

B.C.'s highest court said it had no power to force VANOC to host a women's ski jumping competition at the 2010 Games because the International Olympic Committee -- a foreign body not covered by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms -- has sole control over Olympic sports programming. The tribunal upheld a July verdict by B.C. Supreme Court Justice Lauri Ann Fenlon.

"It is not suggested that the IOC is a law-making body. Further, the IOC's decision not to hold a women's ski jumping event at the 2010 Games is a decision that has not been endorsed by VANOC, or by any Canadian government body," said the B.C. Court of Appeal's Nov. 20 written judgment.

Ross Clark, who represents the ski jumpers, sought a non-binding declaration that the Games are a government-activity delegated to VANOC. VANOC, he claimed, is obliged to respect the constitution.

The Games open Feb. 12 with a men's ski jumping competition at the $122.4 million, taxpayer-funded Whistler Olympic Park.