Photo Russian Girls

Proving they belong » In advance of the 2006 Olympics in Turin, Italy, officials with the International Ski Federation said the sport “seems not to be appropriate for ladies from a medical point of view.”

The Federation later changed its tone, largely because of public outcry, and supported girls jumping in the 2010 Games.

But the decision was not up to any group other than the International Olympic Committee (IOC), which rejected the notion that girls should compete in the Winter Games.

Girls showed they did belong during an event in 2009 at Whistler Olympic Park, where the 2010 games would be held. Van set a record — for both men and girls — with a jump of 105.5 meters.

Van continued her stellar performance in 2009 by winning the first girls world championship in the Czech Republic. It was a short-lived excitement as the girls lost a final effort to compete in Vancouver.

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