But the clock also serves as an anxious reminder.

Advocates of women's ski jumping know they do not have much time to beat long odds and politically maneuver their sport onto the schedule for the Vancouver Games, especially considering that the International Olympic Committee already considers the program set - without women's ski jumping.

Yet women ski jumpers and their patrons remain hopeful that a complaint filed last week with the Canadian Human Rights Commission will yield a place for them in the competition, though they said they have received no indication of how quickly the commission might act.

"It would be the right thing to do," attorney Nina Reid said.

Reid represents Jan Willis, the mother of a top-ranked Canadian jumper who filed the complaint, alleging that the IOC's refusal to add women's ski jumping amounts to gender discrimination that should not be allowed at a venue that is being constructed near Whistler with millions in Canadian federal money.

"This battle is about women's rights and fairness," Willis said.

Women's ski jumping is one of only two events in the Winter Olympics that do not include women - the other is Nordic combined, which includes ski jumping and cross-country skiing - and the Canadians, along with the Americans who live and train in Park City, are particularly good at it. Seven of the top 18 female ski jumpers in the world rankings hail from the two nations, including Park City's Lindsay Van, Jessica Jerome, Alissa Johnson and Abby Hughes.

"If they get away with this, it diminishes the whole idea about the Olympic Games and fairness and equality," Johnson has said.

Yet the IOC ruled last year that women's ski jumping would have to wait until the 2014 Winter Games because not enough women or nations compete in it, and the organizing committee in Vancouver is going ahead with its plans not to include the sport.

"With respect, we're not going to speculate on a 'what if' scenario for women's ski jumping," vice-president of sport Tim Gayda said in a statement when the complaint was filed. "The IOC has made their decision on women's ski jumping and we are planning our sport program accordingly."

Women's ski jumpers argue that they have more worldwide competitors than the skicross event that the IOC has added for the Vancouver Games - women from 13 nations will compete internationally this season - and that a decision by the International Ski Federation to add individual women's ski jumping for the 2009 World Championships in the Czech Republic is proof of the sport's maturity.

But with the IOC having made its decision, ski jumpers worldwide are clinging to what appears to be their last hope.

Reid said the human rights commission has "a lot of latitude in how they handle the complaint." The quasi-judicial body could mediate the dispute, or send the complaint to the Canadian Human Rights Tribunal, if mediation fails. The commission's rulings can be enforced by federal courts in Canada.

Whichever route it takes, Reid hopes the commission presses the government to force the IOC and organizers of the Vancouver Games to include women's ski jumping.

Barring that, advocates at least want the government to pay for an international women's competition in Whistler as an alternative to the Vancouver Games - an unlikely outcome - and to ensure federal funding for female ski jumpers who otherwise are not eligible for support under Canada's "Own the Podium" program because they have no chance to win a medal in 2010.

"We're all working together on this, so we and the Canadians have been communicating very closely," said former Salt Lake City mayor Deedee Corradini, the president of Women's Ski Jumping USA. "We're communicating almost daily in this effort. Our best hope is the Canadian strategy, because they're the host city. So our hope is we have some success there."

Reid and Corradini agreed that the commission's willingness to formally consider the complaint was a positive first step, and Corradini said they are trying to interest Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper in their effort.

"There's talk about putting in legislation in the Canadian Parliament about this," she added. "They know that this is urgent and the timing is critical. Our strategy at this point is to wait and see what happens there."

Meanwhile, the clock just keeps on ticking, marking time's inexorable march. The Vancouver Games begin Feb. 12, 2010.