Norway and Germany will both stage two of the meets, to be held in the normal hill format, while Japan and Turkey will be further venues.

The World Cup series might start early December 2011 in Lillehammer and end on March 10, 2012, at the Midtstubakken in Oslo, the FIS said.

Six athletes will be allowed to compete per nation,

It is another step closer to women being allowed to compete at the 2014 Olympics in Sochi, it is hoped.

International Olympic Committee (IOC) President Jacques Rogge recently insisted that the exclusion of women's ski jumping from this year's Vancouver Games was not gender discrimination but a decision taken on technical grounds.

In his view, too few women currently compete at a high international standard.

"We do not want the medals to be diluted and watered down," Rogge warned last year.

Men's ski jumping has been on the Olympic programme since 1924.

The launch of the series comes less than a month before the IOC's ruling Executive Committee decides which new disciplines should be added to the programme for Sochi.


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August 2009: Rogge supports women ski jumpers - but not in 2010
August 2009: Female ski jumpers renew calls for inclusion at Vancouver