OLYMPICS: Nordic combined faces Olympic crossroads as women remain excluded

Nordic combined is at a critical crossroads ahead of the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, with U.S. athlete Annika Malacinski among those pushing to highlight the sport’s uncertain future as women remain excluded from the Olympic programme.

When the Games open next month, Nordic combined will once again be a men-only event, making it the only Winter Olympic discipline without a women’s competition. The sport combines cross-country skiing and ski jumping, with each competition merging the two disciplines to determine an overall winner.

While women now compete in their own World Championships and World Cup circuit in Nordic combined, they remain excluded from the Olympics. By comparison, women’s cross-country skiing has been part of the Games since 1952, and women’s ski jumping was added in 2014.

There had been hopes that women would be included at the 2026 Games. However, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) announced in 2022 that women’s Nordic combined would not be added to the Olympic programme due to a lack of universality, also warning that the men’s Olympic spot could be at risk because of low interest.

“The whole sport is now at risk,” Malacinski told Reuters this month. “If you cannot offer men and women equal opportunities, you also risk losing your place in the Games entirely. If Nordic combined does not make it to the 2030 French Alps Olympics, then most likely every single country will cut the funding.”

Protests Over Exclusion of Women’s Event

The decision to exclude women from next month’s Games has sparked protests in competitions that followed. Athletes marked an “X” on their ski poles for “no eXception” before the start, while Norwegian winner Gyda Westvold Hansen competed with a drawn-on beard.

Malacinski shared on social media, “We’ve pushed through so many barriers trying to make the Olympic Committee hear us. One of our strongest statements was standing together at the start line, raising our poles in an X.”

Despite the setback, Malacinski remains hopeful about the sport’s future. “If the IOC sees that Nordic combined can be more popular and that more people are watching it, then we will save it,” she said.

Her teammate Alexa Brabec echoed her optimism. “Everyone is disappointed, but we’ve been working hard these last couple of years to improve the sport, keep it growing, and prove that we deserve to be on the Olympic stage,” Brabec told Reuters.

“Nordic combined has made significant progress since the 2022 decision not to include the women’s event,” she added. “In terms of leadership, competition level, and the number of nations involved, it has grown. I am positive and hopeful that they will include us going forward.”

-Reporting by Tommy Lund in Gdansk and Liz Hampton in Denver; Editing by Ken Ferris/Reuters