The 2026 Winter Olympics is a landmark event for gender equality at the Games, with women making up 47% of athletes on the programme. But they are still prohibited from competing in one event at the Games.
Although 50 out of the 116 events at the Milano Cortina competition are set to feature female athletes, marking an Olympic record, Nordic Combined remains one discipline where women are not allowed to participate. The sport combines cross-country skiing and ski jumping – athletes begin with a jump before a 10km race on skis later the same day, with ski jumping results determining starting positions. Medals are awarded depending on finishing position in the race.
It’s one of the Games’ original events and has been present at the Olympics ever since 1924, but women have been completely locked out of the event for over 100 years. That’s despite them competing in cross-country skiing since 1952 and ski jumping since 2014.
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Why Nordic Combined is Not at the 2026 Winter Olympics
In 2022, following their first efforts in the competition, the International Olympic Committee confirmed once again that a women’s Nordic Combined event would not be present at the 2026 Winter Olympic Games.
According to a report from CNN, part of their reasoning for not adding it to the calendar was due to concerns about the future of the sport as a whole. There has been a decline in male competitors over the years, with just 36 athletes taking part in the event this Games, down from 55 at Beijing 2022.
A report from ESPN at the time also indicated that the sport’s place at the Olympics was not guaranteed, as the IOC wants to see more people tuning in to watch the sport, along with an increased number of competitors.
“The IOC acknowledges the challenges currently faced by the discipline of Nordic combined, for both men and women,” they said in a statement, as per Stylist.
“For this reason, the discipline will undergo a full evaluation following the Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026. This assessment will be based on comprehensive data collected during the Games across all sports, disciplines and events.
“Following this evaluation, the IOC will take a decision on the inclusion of Nordic combined for men and women in the programme of the Olympic Winter Games French Alps 2030.
“As women have not yet been part of the Olympic Nordic combined programme, and as the men’s events have been under review, the decision was taken to retain the men’s competitions for one additional edition and to conduct a data-driven assessment after Milano Cortina 2026.”
Female Nordic Combined Athlete Calls Out IOC’s Decision
Despite the IOC’s position, the women’s event has steadily been growing since taking part in a first World Cup in 2020/21. More than 200 athletes are now competing in the sport, and many are frustrated about still being excluded from the Games.
“I have been screaming at the top of my lungs about this because someone needs to do it,” Annika Malacinski told CNN.
“It’s 2026 and this is just blatant. It’s so unequal. It’s sexist. It’s not right and I tend to be a person who stands up when things aren’t right.”
Ranked as the second-best American in the discipline, Malacinski’s brother Niklas is set to compete in the men’s event at Milano Cortina. And she went on to state that both genders needed to help each other to keep the sport in the spotlight.
She said: “I get so upset when people comment on my posts saying, ‘Let’s boycott the men,’ because it’s the complete opposite. We need people to be talking about Nordic combined and to be watching it.
“That’s what my activism is: It’s shedding light on how cool and badass this sport is. We need to support each other.”
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