Female ski jump decision “disappointing”

LISTEN: Ken Read discusses ski jump decision

It could have been a turning point for snow sports if the bid by Canada’s female ski jumpers to take part in this year’s Winter Olympics hadn’t been overruled, Crazy Canucks alumnus Ken Read says.

“It’s too bad because it could have been a Canadian stamp on progress of sport,” says Read, who spoke at the Empire Club in Toronto on Jan. 28.

“(And) we tend to be strong on the lady’s side of the ledger.”

It’s “disappointing,” he says, because there would have had more athletes competing for medals and Ski Jumping Canada would have received more funding, which it desperately needs.

A group of Canadian and U.S. female ski jumpers argued that Vancouver’s Olympic organizing committee was practising discrimination by only letting men compete in the sport at the Winter Games.

They were turned down by the B.C. Court of Appeal in November.

“I think it would have been an amazing gesture to have been able to move it forward,” Read says. “That being said, decisions were taken and you have to sit back and respect (them).”

Read was part of the famous Canadian downhill ski team, nicknamed the Crazy Canucks, during the 1970s and early 1980s.

He said it’s likely that women’s ski jumping will join the next Winter Olympics in 2014 since it will be part of the Winter Youth Olympic Games in 2012.

“It’s unfortunate for the athletes that the fruits of their labour are going to be for future athletes,” Read says.

Regardless of the court’s decision, he said Canadians should rake in the medals at this year’s Olympics.

He predicts Canadian athletes will win at least 15 medals and speedskating will be the country’s strongest event.

“It’s going to come down to the last couple days, maybe even the last day,” he said.

Snow sports—freestyle skiing, ski cross, snowboarding and alpine skiing – will make the ultimate difference when it comes to how many medals Canadians take home, he added.

Moguls skier Alexandre Bilodeau, of Rosemere, Que., won the first gold medal for Canada since the Games began Feb. 12, and Maelle Ricker of Squamish, B.C., took home the second in snowboard cross.  

“One of the first indicators is who will win the first gold medal for Canada, and that will set the tone. You build a momentum, you build an enthusiasm, you build the excitement,” Read says.

Read expected skier Manuel Osborne-Paradis to win the first gold, followed by Jennifer Heil, as they were scheduled as the initial Canadians to compete.

But poor weather conditions postponed Osborne-Paradis’ run to Feb. 15, where he placed 17th in the men’s downhill.

Heil’s race went ahead, but she won silver after being edged out by the U.S.’s Hannah Kearney.

Read is part of Own the Podium, a $117-million, five-year strategy to prepare the home team for winning more Olympic medals than any other country.

Germany’s athletes were about 30 per cent ahead of Canada in World Cup medals entering the Games, he said. But what’s more important than the total medal count is Canada’s sending their best.

The athletes have been through a long training process and are ready to compete on home territory, Read says.

“These will be great games. Canada’s performance matters to everyone across the country,” he said.

“It’s being part of the fight. It’s believing that when you line up, you’re part of history being made.”

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