In the wake of the International Olympic Committee’s decision to remove Nordic combined as an Olympic sport, members of Steamboat Springs’ Nordic combined community are addressing what they feel is a poor move by the Olympic body’s officials.

On Tuesday, the IOC issued a news release announcing its decision to cut Nordic combined from the Olympic lineup for the Alpes 2030 Winter Games in France. There had been ongoing debate in recent years surrounding the possible addition of a women’s competition, to go along with the men’s competition. On Tuesday, the IOC announced that it will instead eliminate the sport from the Olympics entirely.

“The Olympics represent the highest level of sport, so the pathway to the games should have been made clearer to us if they were serious about retaining the sport,” said current U.S. women’s Nordic combined athlete Annika Malacinski. “By making this decision, the IOC shows that it only cares about money and viewership.”

Malacinski has been a vocal leader for adding a women’s competition and had participated in over 60 interviews, conducted a social media campaign and spent countless hours advocating for inclusion of a women’s competition in the games.

The IOC has stated that it wanted to see athletes from a wide array of different nations win medals at the games. In the last four Olympic games, athletes from only five different nations had won Nordic combined medals. Those nations are Austria, Germany, Japan, Norway and Finland.

The IOC stated that it measured all sports across 14 broadcast criteria, without specifically listing each parameter.

The organization did note that it looked at broadcast coverage, digital media, general public interest, ticketing and press involving 50-plus markets per criteria.

“I feel like I have been gaslit for the past eight years,” said Annika Malacinski. “They told us to grow the sport and we did, and to not be included is so demoralizing.”

Annika Malacinski was 12th in the 2025-26 World Cup season. Her teammate Alexa Brabec finished second across the entire season and posted a win in Seefeld, Austria on Jan. 30.

Nordic combined has been a part of the Winter Olympics since the Chamonix 1924 games. Niklas Malacinski — Annika’s brother — and Ben Loomis represented the United States in the sport at the 2026 Milan Cortina Games.

Other current and former athletes and coaches are weighing in on the decision.

“I’m disappointed and shocked,” said Steamboat Springs Winter Sports Club Nordic Combined Program Director Todd Wilson. “We all thought that we had moved the needle on the categories the IOC was looking at.”

In the release, the IOC touted the upcoming games as the first to achieve gender parity. Wilson feels that is an unfair assessment given the way it’s being achieved.

“I am very surprised that they would advertise the Olympics as gender inclusive, after excluding the one sport that did not have gender parity,” said Wilson. “It’s unfortunate, misleading and a slap in the face.”

Former U.S. Nordic Combined Head Coach Dave Jarrett echoed Wilson’s statement.

“It does not make a lot of sense to remove the only sport without gender parity and then tout the games as equal,” said Jarrett. “One of the claims is that the IOC wanted to make the Olympic footprint smaller, and if that was the case they wouldn’t have added other sports and events to the next games. They should have just added the women and been done with it.”

“If women’s Nordic combined had already been included in the games, then I don’t believe this would have happened,” added Jarrett. “The powers that be should have advocated for women in the sport long before this decision.”

Jarrett also believes that if the sport wanted to increase viewership it should have returned to the simpler one jump and 10-kilometer race format that saw other countries outside of Germany, Austria and Norway win medals.

It was under that format that Jarrett coached Steamboat Springs athletes Todd Lodwick, Johnny Spillane, Billy Demong and Brett Camerota to glory at the Vancouver 2010 Olympic games. Spillane nabbed three silver medals, Demong took the gold in the Individual Large Hill event, and the four athletes banded together to win silver in the Team Large Hill event.

It was also during those games Jason Lamy Chappuis of France and Alessandro Pittin of Italy earned a gold and bronze medal, respectively.

Wilson represented the United States at Albertville 1992 and Calgary in 1988. Jarrett represented the U.S. at Lillehammer 1994 and Nagano in 1998.

“We now turn our attention to the other competitions that take place more often, like the World Cup and World Championships, which the athletes stake their careers on,” said Wilson. “The Olympic stage is significant, but it’s not everything, and we won’t lay down.”

FIS and the new Velocity Ski League have signed a memorandum of understanding to start a new competition in summer 2027. In the VSL, six coed teams are expected to compete in individual and mixed-team competitions.

“In the 20 years I participated in the sport, I only competed for two days at the Olympics,” said 2018 Olympian Ben Berend. “While the Olympics are often heralded as the pinnacle, the sport does not need the Olympics to sustain itself.”

“Certainly there are financial repercussions that come with removing a sport,” said Spillane. “But I don’t think it should hinder the athletic aspirations of the current competitors.”

However, being denied the opportunity to compete in the Olympics has left Annika Malacinski dejected.

“In essence I competed in two Olympic disciplines but am not allowed entry,” said Malacinkski. “It’s hard to envision a future for the sport because the Olympics are seen as the top echelon.”

“I want the IOC to know they made a horrible decision,” said Malacinski. “I put my blood, sweat and tears into advocating for myself and my fellow athletes, and to have that opportunity ripped away — while they tout what I have advocated for — is insulting.”