Nordic Ski World Cup-Nordic combination: equality or Olympic end

First the bad news: Kit McConnell did not travel to the Nordic Ski World Championships in Trondheim until Sunday. The mighty sports director of the International Olympic Committee (IOC) should actually meet with the leadership team of the International Ski Association FIS and representatives from the Nordic combination in the title fights in Norway. Topic: The endangered Olympic future of the royal discipline of the Nordic skiing, which McConnell had mercilessly criticized because of the “lack of attractiveness of the sport”.

As the “gentlemen of the rings” assess the current situation with a view to the Winter Games 2030, McConnell’s absence can only be assumed. Nevertheless, the FIS director, which is responsible for the Nordic combination, spread confidently. There would be no “plan B” in the event that the sport represented in Chamonix at Olympia since the first Olympics in 1924 in 1924. One is “very certain that the IOC will include the combineds not only for the games 2030 but also” in the Olympic program.

nd.kompact – our daily newsletter

Our daily newsletter nd. compact Bring order to the news madness. You get an overview of the most exciting stories from the Editorial team. Get the free subscription here.

But there is also the other option: The combiners not represented at the 2026 games in Milan and Cortina will also be denied their Olympic premiere in 2030-and the men fly from the mega event. Sandra Spitz, sports and event director of the FIS, confirms exactly these two scenarios: “Either the combiners come in at the 2030 Olympics or the Nordic combination is all outside.” This is already gender equity, one of the six criteria of the IOC that will ultimately decide on the well-being or woe of the Nordic combination.

In two other important areas, Spitz sees the winter two-fighter well positioned for the future-oriented IOC decision. Once in terms of costs: The combination uses the competition sites that are available for cross -country skiing and ski jumping anyway. On the other hand, host France wants to see the Nordic combination in the Olympic program because of the great tradition of the sport in the country in 2030. The will of the organizers is becoming increasingly important for the IOC: This is shown by the recording of lacrosse or flag football for the summer games 2028 in Los Angeles.

However, is that sufficient to compensate for other important IOC criteria such as the attractiveness for the youth? Trend sports such as slopestyle or half pipe are undoubtedly more exciting for new generations than the Nordic combination. “You are very worried as a young athlete, because this is my passion, which I also want to practice as a profession,” says 19-year-old Vice World Champion Nathalie Armbruster about the overall removal.

However, the FIS really tries everything that have often drowned in recent years to make combined combined competitions with the same winners from Norway, Germany or Austria more exciting. Last Saturday, the exciting compact format with lower intervals in front of 50,000 enthusiastic fans in Trondheim celebrated its premiere. “The backdrop and the tight race were advertising for sport-if you find it boring, you can no longer help,” said Bronzegewinner Vinzenz Geiger, who had previously won silver in the mixed competition. This Friday he led the German season to the World Cup gold as the final runner in front of Austria. Series winner Jarl Magnus Riiber, who won bronze with the Norwegian quartet, was again outstanding athlete of the title fights.

In the upcoming World Cup season, the introduction of sprint competitions is planned in the combination based on the model of the cross-country skiing, and a team sprint is also tested. In addition, the World Association points out that the number of participating nations in women has increased significantly in recent years. In the mass start of the World Cup in Trondheim, athletes from three continents fought for the medals and the Japanese Yuna Kasai was at the top – all of this wants to see the IOC.

However, the World Cup calendar is on the minus side-with only eight weekends for the men this winter. It was less last 14 years ago. It looks even darker for women: they only have six. At the World Cup, you cannot carry out your own team competition because there are too few nations with four powerful combiners. And even the TV quotas that are important for the money machine Olympics are not exhilarating outside of Germany.

So it remains exciting to the IOC decision. »We have to present all of our arguments and data by March 31, then there is a dialogue with the IOC. The decisions that disciplines will be at the 2030 Olympics will then be made in the second half of the year, «reveals Spitz. If the Nordic combination should get a yes from the IOC, 2026 will make the decision about the exact program four years later in the French Alps. It is probably then that two individual decisions for men and women and a mixed competition take place. This would also mean that the men have to do without their previously Olympic team competition. “The willingness to do without is there,” says Horst Hüttel, German sports director of ski jumping and Nordic combination: “After all, we are all in a boat.” There is only a question whether this leaves new shores or how the Titanic sinks.