IOC president: women’s ski jumping ‘not ready’ for Vancouver but to be included in Youth Games

Rogge: women’s ski jumping for Youth Olympics

LONDON — IOC president Jacques Rogge says women’s ski jumping will be included in the inaugural Winter Youth Olympics in 2012 and has a “very strong case” to be part of future Olympics.

Rogge sent a letter to a group of women who have appealed for women’s ski jumping to be added to the program of the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver.

Rogge reiterated the IOC’s position that women’s ski jumping was “not ready” for Vancouver. He said the decision was made on technical and not gender grounds.

Rogge says women’s ski jumping will be part of the 2012 Winter Youth Games in Innsbruck, Austria. He says the event will have a strong case for inclusion in future Olympics the next time it is proposed by the international ski federation.