Female ski jumpers rallied Sunday afternoon, making another push to be allowed to participate at the 2010 Winter Olympic Games in Vancouver and Whistler.

Deedee Corradini of Women's Ski Jumping USA told the relatively small group of protesters in Vancouver that the International Olympic Committee's (IOC) claim that the sport needs more development isn't true.

She said that under a mandate for gender equality the IOC has pencilled in newer women's sports but has "grandfathered" women's ski jumping, which has been around since the 1920s. Men's ski jumping has been in the Olympics for 84 years.

Corradini was mayor of Salt Lake City when it won the right to the 2002 Winter Games.

She mentioned that governments are providing much of the funding for the 2010 games and may have some leverage over the IOC. But she stopped short of suggesting that governments withhold their Olympic funding to pressure the IOC into changing its mind on women's ski jumping.

New Democrat MLA Harry Bains, Olympics critic in the B.C. legislature, and his federal counterparts in the Commons will put forward motions calling on both assemblies to include women's ski jumping as a competitive event in 2010.

"Hopefully we will send a very strong message to the IOC that they need to come out of their ivory towers, be with the people here and do what the people of Canada want them to do and hopefully we will be successful,'' Bains said to the crowd.

The IOC has argued its decision to exclude the women's event was based on merit. It says there have not been enough competitive athletes to justify the inclusion of women's ski jumping at the 2010 games. IOC officials have also said the sport has not held the required number of world championships.

But advocates of women's ski jumping say the sport has broader appeal than others in the Vancouver-Whistler Games. They say there are 135 female ski jumpers in 16 countries.

On Friday, women's ski jumping supporters erected billboards quoting the Olympic Charter's belief in gender equality and highlighting the fact that women ski jumpers are not allowed at the 2010 games. One of those billboards is directly across from the Vancouver Organizing Committee's (VANOC) headquarters.

Dick Pound, Canada's senior Olympic official, has repeatedly defended the IOC, saying that the decision isn't political.

"It's not a human rights issue, no matter how you dress it up," Pound told CTV last month. "That's not what the issue is."

"It's not the Canadian government that is hosting the event, it's the International Olympic Committee," he said. "They have rules that are technical in nature and that's what's been applied here. "

With files from The Canadian Press