VANCOUVER–In less than a minute, with three simple sentences, three B.C. Court of Appeal judges dismissed the dreams of 14 female ski jumpers who have been fighting for years for inclusion in the Olympics.

The tears started almost immediately after the ruling late Friday afternoon for some of the ski jumpers, including Lindsey Van of the U.S., a world champion ski jumper who had hoped to compete in the 2010 Vancouver Olympic Games.

The women had argued that by allowing men to compete in ski jumping but not women, the Vancouver Olympic organizing committee is violating the Charter of Rights and Freedoms. They asked the court for a declaration that unless women could compete, the men's competition should be cancelled.

Justice Ann Rowles, one of the three appeal court judges who heard the case over the last two days, said she was aware a decision was needed quickly. Reasons for the decision will be released next week.

The women could seek leave to appeal to the Supreme Court of Canada, but lawyer Ross Clark, who is representing the ski jumpers, said such an appeal would need to overcome a lot of hurdles.

The appeal to B.C.'s highest court was an attempt to overturn a B.C. Supreme Court decision that found that while excluding the women from competing is discriminatory, the International Olympic Committee is not subject to the Charter and cannot be forced to hold a women's ski jumping event.

In his argument before the court, Clark said by allowing the IOC to dictate what events can or cannot be held at the Games, Canada appears to tolerate discrimination.

The Vancouver Olympic organizing committee, known as VANOC, argued that it has no power to determine what events can be held and that decision is solely made by the IOC.

The IOC's position has been that there are not enough competitions to merit making the event an Olympic sport yet.

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