President of U.S. Nordic Combined Says Not to Boycott Men Over Women's Exclusion

These Games are crucial for a sport facing an uncertain future.

Nordic combined is a foundational Winter Olympic event—but it may not survive to the 2030 Games. | Jerry Lai-Imagn Images

The sport of Nordic combined—a discipline fusing cross-country skiing and ski jumping—is one of the Winter Olympics’ foundational events, dating all the way back to the 1924 Games in Chamonix, France.

However, along with parallel giant slalom snowboarding, it may be on the chopping block for the 2030 Games in the French Alps. The most significant strike against it? Women have never competed in Nordic combined at the Olympic level.

In a conversation with Dan Gartland and Mitch Goldich of SI’s Daily Rings podcast, Jill Brabec—the president of USA Nordic Combined—addressed this frequent criticism of the sport.

“Six months, a year ago, I was putting it at 50-50 (that Nordic combined would stick around for ‘30). I think at this point I would lay odds on that Nordic combined is going to be in 2030 and women will be in it,” Brabec said.

In addition to the two sports on the chopping block, a host of new sports have been informally proposed by various parties for the ‘30 Games, including 3x3 ice hockey, ice climbing, and (most radically) cross-country running.

Because another occasional complaint against Nordic combined is its relative lack of popularity as compared to other ski disciplines, Brabec urged viewers not to boycott Nordic combined on grounds of sexism.

“The more people watch the sport, the better that is,” Brabec said. “Some people wanted to protest for women’s Nordic combined by not watching the men, but in fact that works to our detriment... We want everybody to be in there together. It’s not one or the other.”

Nordic combined competition begins in Predazzo on Wednesday, with the men’s individual normal hill/10-kilometer race.

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