While women have broken barriers across nearly every Olympic discipline, one sport continues to shut them out entirely. Nordic combined stands as the final Olympic event where female athletes cannot participate, despite ongoing campaigns to change this exclusion.
The winter sport, which combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing, has faced mounting pressure to open its doors to women competitors. Female athletes in the discipline believe their chances of competing in the 2030 Olympics could depend heavily on how many people tune in to watch the men’s Nordic combined events during this week’s competition coverage.
A significant milestone was reached earlier this month when American athletes Alexa Brabec and Tara Geraghty-Moats both earned spots on a World Cup podium alongside Norway’s Ida Marie Hagen during a February 1st competition in Seefeld, Austria. This marked the first occasion where two U.S. women shared a World Cup podium in women’s Nordic combined.
The achievement highlights the growing talent pool among female Nordic combined athletes, even as they remain excluded from Olympic competition. Advocates for women’s inclusion argue that strong television ratings for men’s events could demonstrate public interest in the sport and potentially influence decision-makers to expand Olympic participation to include women by 2030.
