Women's Nordic Combined Fights for Olympic Survival Amid IOC Exclusion Threat
The sport of Nordic combined has been a fixture at the Winter Olympic Games since 1924, yet it has never featured a dedicated women's event. Now, as the International Olympic Committee contemplates the future of the sport, female athletes and insiders are raising alarms that the IOC may be preparing to cut Nordic combined entirely from the Olympic program by 2030, threatening its very existence on the world's biggest sporting stage.
The Voice of Resistance: Annika Malacinski
At the forefront of this battle is Annika Malacinski, a 24-year-old American athlete who excels in both cross-country skiing and ski jumping—the two disciplines that comprise Nordic combined. As the leading female Nordic combined athlete in the United States and a consistent top-10 performer on the World Cup circuit, Malacinski has become a tireless advocate for inclusion and gender equality in her sport.
Instead of preparing for a potential podium finish at the Milano-Cortina Games, Malacinski finds herself at her training base in Norway, using social media and every available platform to highlight the IOC's agenda. This agenda has sidelined women's Nordic combined for a second consecutive Olympics and could lead to its complete removal by the time of the French Alps 2030 Games.
"It's a hard sport, a lot of hard work, and I hate that the IOC wants to take it away, because it's one of the most badass sports you can do," Malacinski stated recently. "They say we don't have enough girls, enough nations, but look at other niche sports, like Big Air and bobsled—we have the same numbers as they do."
The IOC's Contradictory Stance on Growth
In what appeared to be a move toward gender equality, the IOC added women's Nordic combined to the 2020 Youth Olympic Winter Games program, seemingly paving the way for its inclusion in future senior Games. Following this, the International Ski and Snowboard Federation launched a women's World Cup circuit in the fall of that year, marking a significant step forward. The 2021 Nordic combined world championship saw women from 10 nations competing, a number comparable to other established winter sports.
For instance, the 2021 women's ski cross world championship featured athletes from just seven nations, while snowboard cross had 12, skeleton had 13, two-woman bobsleigh had 11, and freeski and snowboard Big Air had 16 and 17 nations respectively. Despite these parallels, the IOC's executive board denied the FIS application to include women's Nordic combined in the 2026 Games, citing insufficient participating nations, athletes, and audience interest.
Malacinski argues that the IOC's demands for growth are undermined by its own actions. "If you really look at it, the IOC tied our hands and feet together, threw us overboard and told us to swim," she explained. "They want to see growth, they want to see more women doing it, they want to see popularity. But what are the driving factors of all that? Being included in the Olympics."
The Broader Threat to Nordic Combined
The exclusion of women's Nordic combined is not an isolated issue; it signals a broader threat to the sport as a whole. During the 2022 discussions, IOC member Karl Stoss noted that Nordic combined does little to promote the Olympic ideal of universality, as most athletes come from Europe. This criticism has placed men's Nordic combined on notice as well, with insiders fearing that the IOC may opt to cut costs by eliminating the entire sport from the 2030 program.
This potential decision comes at a time when the sport is actively working to expand its global reach and inclusivity. The efforts to develop women's Nordic combined through Youth Olympics and World Cup events demonstrate a commitment to growth, yet the lack of Olympic recognition hampers these initiatives. As the IOC prepares to announce the sport program for the French Alps 2030 later this year, the future of Nordic combined hangs in the balance.
The fight led by athletes like Annika Malacinski underscores a critical moment for winter sports, where tradition clashes with modern demands for equality and sustainability. Whether the IOC will heed these calls for inclusion or proceed with cuts remains to be seen, but the determination of these athletes ensures that their voices will not be silenced in the quest to preserve their sport's Olympic legacy.
