Ski jumping has been an Olympic sport since the first Winter Games in 1924. But this year, for the first time, women will also be flying off the ramps.
“I think it’s safe to say that we’re just as good as the men and the Olympic stage is somewhere where we can actually show that to the world that we belong there,” said Atsuko Tanaka, who will be competing for Canada. “We should’ve been there a long time ago.”
And now they finally are. Tanaka will be joined in Sochi by Taylor Henrich and Alexandra Pretorius.
It took a lot to make it there. Aside from the usual competitions, injuries and training all athletes go through, the female ski jumpers of the world had to convince the International Olympic Committee that theirs was a sport worth including.
Leading up to the 2010 Olympic Games in Vancouver, a group of ski jumpers from five countries launched a legal battle, claiming that having ski jumping events for men and not women constituted discrimination. A B.C. Supreme Court judge ruled that although the exclusion was in fact discriminatory, only the International Olympic Committee could determine whether to include a sport, and the IOC is not subject to Canadian rights law.
For its part, the IOC claimed there was too small a competitive pool at the time. It has since changed its mind.
Now, for Tanaka, it’s all about Sochi and the future.
“I feel ready, I feel like I’m in the best condition I’ve ever been in. So I’m definitely ready and I’m prepared to go into the Games and perform my best,” she said.
But being among the first competitors comes with some pressure.
“A lot of people have been saying that they have big expectations for the women’s ski jumping. That does put a pressure, a certain amount of pressure, on me,” said Tanaka. “I just try not to worry about it. I mean, if I do what I‘ve been doing, then I feel that the result will just follow and that’s what I’m hoping for.”
Tanaka recently placed fourth in a World Cup event in Sapporo, Japan, one of her best results to date.
Of course, like all Olympians, she’s hoping for more at Sochi.
“Having it actually be in the Olympic Games now is really exciting and it’s actually unbelievable because we’ve been waiting for this for so long and we fought for it,” she said. “I just can’t wait to be there and competing for Canada.”
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