Ski jump federation didn't act fast enough for IOC

Ski jump federation didn't act fast enough for IOC: "In the interests of full disclosure, let me say up front that I like Dick Pound.

He doesn't duck fights. In fact, most of the time he picks them, which is probably why the plain-spoken Montreal lawyer lost his 2001 bid for leadership of the International Olympic Committee, though he remains a member.

He also has a keen ear for hypocrisy, even when it is Canadian in origin, and though he has fought hard for our athletes when they've been wronged - remember the Jamie Salé-David Pelletier-French judge fiasco in Salt Lake City? - he doesn't automatically wave the flag in international disputes involving Canada. And I like that, too.

But this one stumps me.

Various levels of government have spent $120-million of our dollars to build a ski-jumping/cross-country/biathlon facility in the Callaghan Valley, outside Whistler, for the 2010 Olympics. The facility is sitting there, requiring no gender-specific tailoring to make it suitable for women to join in the Olympic ski-jumping program.

All it requires is the nod from the IOC.

The same sort of nod it gave to women's hockey, and women's luge, bobsled and skeleton - existing sports with long Olympic histories on the male side, all recently extended to include women despite serious global participation deficiencies.

So why not ski jumping, too? Sim"