Nordic Combined Faces Calls for Women’s Inclusion at Milan Cortina 2026

PREDAZZO (Azat TV) – The Nordic Combined individual Gundersen large hill/10km event proceeded on Tuesday, February 17, 2026, at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics in Predazzo, Italy, even as a significant push for gender parity in the sport gained momentum. While male athletes like Japan’s Ryota Yamamoto competed, the ongoing Games have become a focal point for renewed calls to include women in the Olympic discipline, which has historically excluded them since its inception in 1924.

The unique sport, blending ski jumping and cross-country skiing, has been a staple of the Winter Olympics for over a century. However, despite the 2026 Games being lauded as one of the most gender-equal in history, Nordic Combined remains the only Winter Olympic sport where women do not have a dedicated competition category. This glaring omission has prompted strong advocacy from US lawmakers and athletes.

US Senators Advocate for Women’s Inclusion

Just a day prior to the men’s competition, on February 16, 2026, Democratic Senators Michael Bennet and John Hickenlooper of the United States sent a formal letter to the International Olympic Committee (IOC), the global governing body for the Olympics. Their letter urged the IOC not only to maintain Nordic Combined as an Olympic sport but, crucially, to include women in future competitions. The senators emphasized that ‘Women’s Nordic Combined deserves a place in the Olympics, and expanding that opportunity for these athletes is the right choice over eliminating tradition,’ according to KPCW.

The IOC has not yet issued a public response to the senators’ appeal. This advocacy comes at a time when the debate around gender equality in sports is more prominent than ever, making the exclusion of women from Nordic Combined particularly conspicuous.

A Century of Exclusion in Nordic Combined

Nordic Combined has been a part of the Winter Olympics since the very first Games in Chamonix, France, in 1924. For 102 years, women have been unable to compete in the event on the Olympic stage, a situation that many athletes and advocates find increasingly untenable in the modern sporting landscape. While women’s Nordic Combined events exist at other international levels, the Olympic platform has remained elusive.

This historical exclusion stands in stark contrast to the broader trend of increasing gender representation across the Olympic program. The 2026 Milan Cortina Games were specifically highlighted by organizers as making significant strides toward gender parity, yet this one discipline continues to lag behind.

Athletes Push for Olympic Parity

The call for inclusion is not limited to political figures; athletes themselves have been at the forefront of this movement. Colorado natives Alexa Brabec and Annika Malacinski, who are prominent figures in women’s Nordic Combined, have actively campaigned for the event’s inclusion in the Olympics. Despite their efforts, they found themselves on the sidelines during the 2026 Games. Similarly, Vermont native and Nordic Combined athlete Tara Geraghty-Moa successfully persuaded her state legislature to advance a joint resolution supporting women’s competition at the Games, with the resolution passing the Senate and moving to the House floor last week.

These grassroots and legislative efforts underscore the growing pressure on the IOC to address this long-standing gender disparity. The images from Predazzo, Italy, of fans watching the men’s competition (as reported by AP), serve as a visual reminder of the sport’s Olympic presence, while simultaneously highlighting the absence of its female contingent.

The confluence of the ongoing Milan Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics and renewed legislative pressure marks a critical juncture for the future of women’s Nordic Combined, forcing the International Olympic Committee to directly confront a century-old issue of gender inequity in one of its traditional disciplines.