VANCOUVER - Pressure from the Canadian government hasn't yet been able to get the International Olympic Committee to bend on letting women ski jumpers compete in the 2010 Olympic Games.

So, for one Olympic expert, that means the women have to up the ante -- by threatening a widespread boycott of the Olympics in Vancouver by all women athletes.

"It has historically been an effective strategy," Kevin Wamsley of the University of Western Ontario told CTV British Columbia.

"It would have to be a large-scale boycott. It would have to be significant countries. It would have to be a significant number of individuals and probably both men and women involved," said Wamsley, who used to head the university's International Centre for Olympic Studies.

Earlier this week, a group of Canadian women ski jumpers were soaring over the news that the Canadian government would support them in their quest to go for gold in 2010.

That was the settlement to a human-rights complaint filed by the jumpers over the issue last year.

But on Wednesday the IOC brought the women down to earth, saying in an email to Canadian media outlets that their decision was made on 'technical merit' and has nothing to do with discrimination.

The threat of a boycott worked in 1932, when the IOC voted to remove women's track and field from the 1932 games in Los Angeles, proposing to replace it with a program that included singing and dancing.

But experts are warning the women to tread carefully, suggesting diplomacy - not action - is the way to deal with the IOC.

For his part, Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan said he valued everyone's ability to contribute in the games, but refused to say whether he thinks what the IOC is doing amounts to discrimination.

"I would hate to put any labels on it," the mayor told CTV News.

In any case, some athletes say they'd have a hard time joining a boycott.

"I've worked for years for the Olympic Games for one day, and I think that boycotting it would take a lot," said Canadian Olympic aerialist Diedra Dionne.

With a report from CTV British Columbia's Mike Killeen