He's dreaming. She's crying. Siblings fight for women's Nordic combined to be in Olympics
- - He's dreaming. She's crying. Siblings fight for women's Nordic combined to be in Olympics
Chris Bumbaca, USA TODAYFebruary 16, 2026 at 4:56 AM
0
In what has been a recurring theme for the International Olympic Committee every two years, the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics are the most gender equal ever.
But women have been shut out in one sport that could be excluded altogether at the 2030 Games in France. Nordic combined, which is not included for women in the 2026 Winter Olympics program, combines ski jumping and cross-country skiing. It was an original Olympic sport on the 1924 Chamonix program, with the goal of discovering the best all-around athlete on skis.
Annika Malacinksi has been around the sport since she was a year old. Her mother, Essi Kenttala, was a massage therapist for the men’s Nordic combined team at the 2002 Salt Lake Games. Annika and her brother Niklas grew up in an athletic household. Initially a gymnast, Annika went through an identity crisis after a combination of burnout and injuries left her looking for a new passion.
It was in 2017 she went to one of Niklas’ ski jumping competitions. Annika felt inspired.
“It kind of ignited something in me,” she said.
More: Mikaela Shiffrin's coach makes Olympic history in Cortina giant slalom
1 / 52026 Winter Olympics Team USA medals: Every American medal wonBreezy Johnson of the United States celebrates with her gold medal after winning the women's downhill alpine skiing race, on Feb. 8, 2026.
The Steamboat Springs, Colorado, native said she's never been as scared as the day she hiked up the 40-foot ski jump for the first time. Fast-forward eight years, Annika ranked 10th in this season’s International Ski Federation World Cup rankings.
The exhilaration of combining two different sports – biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and shooting is another example – makes Nordic combined special in her mind.
“You have to have the balls to be able to ski jump,” Annika said. “That’s such a mental sport in itself.”
The mental battle lately, though, has been dealing with the fact she wouldn’t have the chance to represent the United States in Italy at no fault of her own. The sports is not included for women in the 20
Even though the decision has been known for four years, seeing Niklas and his teammates, also her friends, prepare for the Games has been difficult. While immensely prideful and excited for Niklas, she’s grieving.
“I’ve lost a lot of sleep over it. I’ve cried,” Annika said. “Because at the end of the day, it has nothing to do with what I’m capable of, or not being good enough, or not having enough women doing it. It literally just comes down to gender.”
Women make up 47% of the 2,900 participating athletes, according to the IOC. For athletes to succeed and the sport to progress, it needs visibility, sponsorships and funding. None of that comes easily without Olympic conclusion, Nordic Combined USA president Jill Brabec said.
The IOC made the decision to axe the women’s Nordic combined four years ago, saying the sport simply wasn’t there, Brabec said. It pointed to viewership and the diversity of countries on the podium as the primary reasons.
Brabec disputes the IOC’s reasoning for a few reasons. There may have been some podium concentration, but nothing out of the ordinary by Winter Olympic sports standards. Since 2020, when women started competing in FIS World Cups, there have been eight countries represented on the podium. For the men, it’s seven.
“Now it is beyond competitive,” Brabec told USA TODAY Sports. “If you looked at the last podiums in last World Cup season, there are six different nations in contention for a medal, there are six different nations in the top 10.”
Overall, Brabec supports the IOC’s quest to obtain gender equality in the Olympics.
“They’re just missing the mark because they didn’t include women’s Nordic combined. They had such an opportunity (to say) ‘Look, every sport has men and women.’
“To me it’s a no-brainer and a complete win-win for the IOC to admit them for 2030.”
Annika Malacinski believes because men’s Nordic combined was not profitable at the 2022 Beijing Games, organizers took it out on women.IOC's decision surprising
The decision shocked Annika. She never saw it coming.
“I had no doubts then,” Annika said. “Not even one percent that, there’s no way they’re not putting the women in.”
Annika thinks that because men’s Nordic combined was not profitable at the 2022 Beijing Games – ratings were down across the board as a result of another COVID-19-effected Olympics – organizers took it out on women. The women had the chance to meet with former IOC sport director Kit McConnell on Skype in 2023 after a World Cup. He went through the list of reasons why it lacked the necessary qualities to be included.
“I feel like the Olympic committee just doesn’t give a (expletive),” Annika said. “They do what they want to do and that’s final. It seems like they’re untouchable, almost.”
She also believes the IOC may be moving toward erasing the Nordic combined from the Olympics.
“At least in my opinion, (this is) the first step – because right now, it really hurts when the Olympics is posting all this ‘most gender equal Olympics yet,’" Annika said, "and all they had to do was add one sport to have women in it."
“It’s mind-boggling, but at the end of the day, I really think that they’re trying to wipe (out) a legacy sport, and the first step to doing that is making it not equal.”
Fighting for equality in 2026 feels wrong, Annika said. For all of the flags worn in competition, the roughly 40 women who compete in Nordic combined are denied their collective dream.
“It makes us more close, because we have this one thing that connects us all,” Annika said. “It’s something we’re all fighting for.”
Having women’s Nordic combined in 2030 would validate the time, money, sweat and tears she has put into the sport.
“It’s a very demanding sport mentally and physically and I work my butt off to be able to do this,” Annika said. “And so when a group is telling you that you’re not good enough to do this, it hurts.”
Niklas said he and Annika will continue to fight for their sport as they continue to support each other.What's next?
While this cycle is tough to stomach, Niklas said, they are in the fight for the long haul as they continue to support each other.
“It’s truly heartbreaking. It’s hard to navigate,” he said.
He’s celebrating. She’s mourning.
“But I think it’s important to not stop here," Niklas said. "Because I think the future can be very bright for Nordic combined. One of my dreams is to stand up there on that podium on the Olympic stage.”
Holding the silver medal from the men’s team event the Americans won at the 2010 Vancouver Games was a seminal moment in his life, Niklas said. One of his goals is to be a mentor for a “younger Niklas,” to grow the pool of athletes trying Nordic combined.
Niklas acknowledged Nordic combined is not an entry-level sport, like baseball, soccer or basketball. The general public oftentimes does not understand the difficulty and uniqueness.
“To me, it’s really sad to see the shift in what’s profitable and what’s not,” Niklas said. “I think Nordic combined can be (profitable) when the right light is shined on Nordic combined.”
That means leaning more into social media, Niklas said. More people watching this week during the action in Italy won’t hurt, either, and could single-handedly save the sport, Annika said.
“It’s important for eyes to be on Nordic combined this year, especially,” Niklas said. “The IOC, unfortunately, is looking at numbers. Now is not the time to shy away from a really cool sport.”
Specialization has become a focus across the sports landscape and seeing the two skill sets required to compete in Nordic combined is cool, Brabec said. The sport has responded to changing media habits over recent years to make it more viewer-friendly. For example, the racing portion now features six-second starting blocks, the point being to create an action-packed race that is more clustered to prevent one person from watching a solo skier and others spread out and more of a pack.
Part of Brabec’s motivation for women’s Nordic combined inclusion is personal. Her daughter, Alexa, is ranked second in the world and her other daughter, Haley, also competes at the international level. Her attempts go beyond her daughters’ dreams though, because who knows if 2030 is a realistic goal for inclusion, she said.
“I want to make sure that everybody else’s girls have a chance to compete in the sport,” Brabec said.
Brabec has been tracking women’s sports who have had to fight for equality and Olympic inclusion, such as ski jumping. The articles being written now about women’s Nordic combined are nearly identical to what the ski jumping community confronted. That sport successfully earned entry for women at the 2014 Sochi Games.
Brabec hopes the same for women’s Nordic combined.
“Women’s Nordic combined is perfectly set to follow in the same footsteps,” Brabec said. “(The athletes) just need an opportunity to shine.”
This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: IOC touts equality in 2026, but women’s Nordic combined left out
Source: “AOL Sports”
