The International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced six new sports to be included for competition in the 2014 Winter Games in Sochi, including the addition of women’s ski jumping and ski halfpipe for men and women.
Biathlon mixed relay, luge team relay and a figure skating team event were also added to the roster of sports, ending months of speculation after the IOC took the winter season to assess the events being considered.
“The inclusion of these events on the Olympic Winter Games programme is sure to be appreciated by athletes and sports fans alike,” said IOC President Jacques Rogge in a release. “These are exciting, entertaining events that perfectly complement the existing events on the sports programme, bring added appeal and increase the number of women participating at the Games.
“I look forward to watching the athletes compete in these events in Sochi 2014.”
The addition of women’s ski jumping, announced Wednesday (April 6) during the IOC’s executive board meetings in London, comes after the sport’s proponents failed to have the event added to the 2010 Vancouver Games despite taking their case to the Supreme Court of Canada.
“We are elated and relieved,” Deedee Corradini, president of Women’s Ski Jumping USA, said in a release. “Sochi, Russia can proudly proclaim that it will be hosting the first gender-equal Winter Games in Olympic history.”
However, gender equality won’t yet be fully achieved in Sochi as women will compete only on the normal hill. Men also compete on the large hill and in a team competition.
As well, Nordic combined, which sees athletes compete in both ski jumping and cross-country skiing, will remain a men’s-only event for Sochi.
The IOC announced in October that while it viewed the sports up for inclusion “favourably,” it would delay its decision on them to monitor the results of the 2011 world championships for each discipline.
The ski halfpipe addition was expected, as its snowboard counterpart was first introduced at Nagano in 1998, while other freestyle skiing events such as moguls and ski cross have been popular and successful additions over the past two decades.
"I'm really excited, especially because I think being in the Olympics will make our sport a little more mainstream and hopefully encourage more girls to get involved,” said Squamish resident and 2011 women’s halfpipe world champ Rosalind Groenewoud in a release. “I hope this announcement means we'll see a lot more fresh, young faces in the halfpipe."
The IOC delayed its decision on five other events — men’s and women’s ski and snowboard slopestyle and parallel team competition for alpine skiing.
Canadian Freestyle Ski Association CEO Peter Judge said in a Wednesday release that he finds the delay on slopestyle to be an encouraging sign.
“Because this discipline requires a new venue and additional athletes, it’s obviously a big undertaking for an organizing committee, especially this late in the game, so the fact hat they’re still considering adding slopestyle, to me, is a very positive sign,” said Judge.
The events still under consideration will undergo a “further feasibility study,” said the IOC release, and a final decision is expected in the coming weeks.
