Delegates at the 47th International Ski Congress of the International Ski Federation (FIS) decided to advance ski halfpipe, women’s ski jumping, and snowboarding slopestyle and team snowboardcross toward possible inclusion in the 2014 Olympics.

The FIS is proposing that ski halfpipe for both men and women be added to the program for the 2014 Games. The U.S. and French ski federations led this move. The event has been included in FIS World Championships since 2005, and is already included in the program for the 2012 Youth Olympics in Innsbruck. The IOC is expected to make a decision regarding ski halfpipe in early November.

Delegates voted to create a women’s ski jumping World Cup series in time for the 2011-12 season. The FIS ruling council approved the new top-tier event following the success of the Continental Cup circuit, staged since 2005.The FIS is hoping the International Olympics Committee (IOC) will include the event for the 2014 Olympic Games. At the 2010 Vancouver games, ski jumping was the only sport on the entire Olympic program open for men but not women.

The FIS also voted unanimously to include snowboarding slopestyle and team snowboardcross in the FIS World Snowboard Championships. This is the first step toward making these events part of the 2014 Games. In order to be included, the sport must first be contested in two world championships overseen by the FIS. The IOC is scheduled to deicide to whether to include these two events in the Olympics sometime in 2011.