Graphic Courtesy of GirlsCan'tWHAT?

Sports has always been a difficult arena for women to get recognition and when the 2010 Winter games swept the beautiful Canadian landscape last year it was easy to see the places where women had both accomplished much and the places where we were still fighting to be recognized. In 2010 there was one American female athlete who was forced to watch the games from the sidelines. Why? Simply because she was a woman.

Of course Lindsey Von is not just any athlete though; she holds the K95 hill record for both (men AND women) of 105.5 meters at the actual site of the 2010 Olympic ski jumping events. But despite holding that record she wasn’t able to jump the K95 during the 2010 Olympics because Ski jumping was the one remaining event still not open to women.

But not anymore. We are so pleased to hear the news that Members of the International Olympic Committee, after dozens of appeals failed to let the women jump in Vancouver, B.C. in 2010, finally approved women's ski jumping for the 2014 Winter Olympic Games in Sochi, Russia.

Deedee Corradina, president of Women's Ski Jumping USA, said "Sochi, Russia can proudly proclaim that it will be hosting the first gender-equal Winter Games in Olympic history.”

Women have been fighting to add this event as early as the 1950s when women would actually dress up as men to compete in the Nordic competitions for Ski jumping because women were not allowed to compete. We would like to congratulate every female ski jumper out there that fought for this and for all the girls who can now set their sights on this new Olympic dream. We can’t wait for 2014!