Ski jumping has been an Olympic sport since the first-ever Winter Games in 1924 - but until now women had been excluded from the competition.

Citing a lack of wide appeal and depth of talent, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) waited 90 years to include women.

Led by Deedee Corradini, the former mayor of Salt Lake City which hosted the games in 2002, the women sued the IOC in a Canadian court in 2009 on the basis of discrimination. They won the case but the court decided not to enforce the law when it came to the 2010 Vancouver Winter Games.

After another year of deliberations, and closely following the women's progress, the IOC announced in April 2011 that women's ski jumping would be featured at the Sochi Games.

Source:
BBC News