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Female athletes competing in the Nordic combined have planned to protest their exclusion from the 2026 Winter Olympics in Milan Cortina.
The sport, which combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing, will not feature a women’s competition at the Winter Olympics next month. This will be one of the few events not to have female participants.
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Annika Malacinski of the United States competes in the Women’s Individual Compact NH/5km at the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup Seefeld on February 1, 2025 in Seefeld, Austria. (Franz Kirchmayr/SEPA.Media/Getty Images)
American athlete Annika Malacinski told Reuters she and her competitors would hold up an “X” with their poles before starting a race in Seefeld, Austria, to symbolize “no exceptions.”
“It’s so complicated that women are excluded, because we’ve ticked off everything the IOC wanted to see, but ultimately what hurts is that the IOC doesn’t see the point in adding women. We can’t continue another cycle without full equality at the Olympics,” she told the outlet.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told Reuters it recognized the problems the sport faces in terms of popularity among both men and women, including general popularity and a lack of competitiveness.
“The IOC will continue to support the International Ski Federation (FIS) in the development and promotion of Nordic combined,” the IOC said. “For this reason, the discipline will be subject to a comprehensive evaluation after the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games.
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Children play near the Olympic rings as snow falls, ahead of the Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics in Livigno, Italy, January 8, 2026. (Reuters/Yara Nardi)
“On the other hand, the FIS and the Nordic combined community also have a responsibility to present a more compelling case in terms of universality, popularity and performance level, among both men and women, to enable the IOC to make decisions for the 2030 Games and beyond.”
Nordic combined events have been reserved for men since 1924. Norway has won the most gold with 15.
Malacinski also expressed his dissatisfaction with the lack of representation at the Games in a video posted to TikTok.
“Honestly it’s heartbreaking, I could cry all day,” she said in her video. “It’s like being told that our dreams matter less. That fuels me too, because it shows how important it is that we keep talking.”
The Olympic rings are on display in the snow at the Stelvio Ski Center, site of the alpine skiing and ski mountaineering disciplines at the 2026 Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Bormio, Italy, January 16, 2025. (AP Photo/Luca Bruno, file)
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Athletes will have to wait until the 2030 Olympics to see if a women’s Nordic combined event will be added to the calendar.
