Nordic Combined: The only Winter Olympic sport that does not include women

North American figure skater Annika Malasinski dreams of becoming an Olympic athlete.

Instead, she must watch from the sidelines as her younger brother, Niklas, fulfills that dream at the 2026 Winter Games.

The combined Nordic discipline—a combination of cross-country skiing and ski jumping—is the only Olympic discipline in which women cannot compete.

The event has been a feature of the Winter Olympics since the first edition in Chamonix in 1924 but has been open to men only, although there have been Women’s World Cup and World Championship events.

Malacinski, 24, has been campaigning for the women’s event to be included in the Olympics for years, and in 2022 a formal proposal was made for its inclusion in Italy this year.

A similar proposal was made before the Beijing Olympics four years ago, but both were rejected.

In an Instagram post in November, Malacinski said her Olympic dream had been taken away from her “not because of my abilities but because of my gender.”

“For years, my teammates and I have been talking, protesting and fighting for the opportunity to stand on the same Olympic starting line as the men,” she said.

“We’re still here, we’re still pushing, we won’t give up.”

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) says the event is “generally questionable” and is not about women but about sport as a whole, citing low participation in various countries and a lack of viewership.

This year, 36 athletes are participating in the men’s competition in Italy, compared to 55 athletes at the 2022 Beijing Olympics.

The IOC also says Milan-Cortina is the most gender-equal Winter Games with 47% female athletes, while 50 of the 116 events are female.

IOC spokesman Mark Adams said: “For all intents and purposes, we are gender balanced. We are taking a look at that.” [Nordic combined] “Here, participants generally come from a small number of countries – it needs to be more global and we will look at that at the next Winter Games.”

Another speaker added: “From now on, we will take data points in order to evaluate these disciplines with the relevant events of the French Alps 2030. If the Nordic countries stay together, women will be part of it.”