Canadian journalist Laura Robinson comments on the ongoing heated debates as 15 female skiiers have taken their right to play to court.
In British Columbia Supreme Court this week The Vancouver Organizing Committee for the 2010 Olympic and Paralympic Winter Games (VANOC) has said it is an organization dedicated to the equality of women, and abides by the Charter of Rights and Freedoms, but unfortunately when it comes to deciding what events will be held at the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games their hands are tied because it is the IOC who decides this, and decides who competes in them. In this matter, they say, the Charter does not apply to VANOC because no government activity has taken place—the contract is solely with the IOC.
“Why force female beach volleyball players to limit their bikini bottoms to a maximum of 7 centimetres at the hip?” asks Robinson
Well not really. VANOC stages the Games, and the IOC runs them, along with international sport federations like the Federation Internationale de Ski, but the athletes are the activity of the Games and they compete on behalf of the nation in which they are citizens. In fact athletes cannot take part unless they are actively competing on behalf of their nation’s government. Who would want any Canadian to go to the Olympics without complete and utter coverage of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms when it is the government that basks in the glory of their hard work?
VANOC has conveniently ignored that the Olympics are about athletes being active on behalf of their governments because they have spent the week disseminating IOC propaganda. For instance, even though the IOC is at the forefront of promoting equality, female ski jumpers cannot compete in 2010 because even a pro-woman organization like the IOC knows that women jumpers do not have what it takes to compete at elite Olympic competition. Continue reading ‘The Olympics, an all boys club?’
