Nordic Combined Dropped As Olympic Sport For First Time

The 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps will mark the first time in the 106-year history of the Games that Nordic Combined will not be contested.

The International Olympic Committee announced the decision on Tuesday, citing a limited number of competitors and a lack of public interest as the reasons for its removal.

Combining ski jumping and cross-country skiing, Nordic Combined had been contested at every Winter Olympics since the first one was held in 1924.

Another factor why Nordic Combined might’ve been removed could be that it’s a male-only sport, and the IOC is pushing to include more female participation at the Olympics.

The 2030 Winter Games are expected to be the first time that 50% of the athletes will be female, according to BBC.

Nordic Combined could return for the 2034 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. Proponents of the sport hoped that a female competition could be added, but instead it was nixed entirely.

“Across most of the popularity indicators, Nordic combined ranked lowest among all Olympic Winter Games disciplines at Sochi 2014, PyeongChang 2018, Beijing 2022 and Milan Cortina 2026,” the IOC said in a news release. “At the most recent Olympic Winter Games, it was the lowest-ranked discipline in 11 of the 14 popularity indicators assessed.”

While eliminating Nordic Combined, three new sports were added for the 2030 Games, freeride skiing and snowboarding, and synchronized figure skating.

Freeride skiing and snowboarding is where athletes choose their own lines down natural, ungroomed trails and are judged based on jumps, control and technique over cliffs and deep snow.

Synchronized skating will feature teams of nine skaters on the ice together as one unit.