Story on Woman’s Ski Jumping in SI

I’m catching up on back issues of SI. I need to mention that because the story isn’t exactly timely since it relates to the Olympics. Although, I think Olympic sports should be talked about year round.

The story was ‘A Tale of Two Lindseys.’ It discussed Lindsey Vonn and Lindsey Van. You know Vonn, but who is Van? She’s a female ski jumper. I mentioned how ridiculous it was that there was no woman’s ski jumping in the Olympics in the last IDM. I wasn’t aware of the fight over the idea. The IOC says it’s not competitive enough. In the article, they compare the woman’s ski jumping world championships, which had 39 competitors, with the woman’s skeleton at the games, which had 26 competitors.

I really don’t understand what the issue is. They’d have to buy a few extra medals? That’s all I can think of.