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Athletes competing in the Nordic combined event have planned a protest against their exclusion from the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in 2026.
The sport, which combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing, will not have women’s competition at the Winter Olympics next month. It will be one of the few events that will not have female participants.
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Annika Malacinski competes during the women’s individual NH/5 km compact event at the FIS Nordic Combined World Cup on February 1, 2025, in Seefeld, Austria. (Franz Kirchmayr/SEPA.Media/Getty Images)
American athlete Annika Malacinski told Reuters that she and her competitors will raise an “X” with their poles before starting a race in Seefeld, Austria, to symbolize that “there is no exception.”
“It is a disaster that women are excluded, because we marked everything the IOC wanted to see, but at the end of the day, what hurts is that the IOC does not see the quality of adding women. We cannot go through another cycle without total equality in the Olympic Games,” he told the outlet.
The International Olympic Committee (IOC) told Reuters it recognized the problems facing the sport in terms of popularity for both men and women, including overall popularity and a lack of competitiveness.
“The IOC will continue to support the International Ski Federation (FIS) in the development and promotion of the Nordic Combined,” the IOC said. “For this reason, the discipline will undergo a full 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 Olympic Games in Livigno, Italy, Jan. 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 level of performance, in both the men’s and women’s categories, to enable the IOC to make decisions for the 2030 Games and beyond.”
Nordic combined events have been exclusively men’s since 1924. Norway has taken home the most gold with 15.
Malacinski also spoke of his discontent over the lack of representation at the Games in a video posted on TikTok.
“Honestly, it’s heartbreaking, I could cry about it all day,” she said in her video. “It feels like they’re telling us that our dreams matter less. It also encourages me, because it shows how important it is that we keep talking.”
The Olympic rings are displayed in the snow at the Stelvio Ski Center at the Milan Cortina 2026 Olympic Winter Games in Bormio, Italy, on January 16. (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 is added to the calendar.
