Title: Nordic Combined and Parallel Giant Slalom Face Fate at IOC Meeting

Two Winter Olympic disciplines, Nordic combined and snowboard parallel giant slalom, are currently at risk of being removed from the 2030 Games. Their retention will be determined by the International Olympic Committee (IOC) during its upcoming session later this month. The event, scheduled to take place in the French Alps, is undergoing a rigorous review process where the IOC is prioritizing sports that attract younger demographics, both in terms of participants and viewership. Consequently, both disciplines face the possibility of exclusion due to concerns regarding athlete participation numbers and broadcast ratings.

The IOC is set to convene in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Wednesday, June 24, and Thursday, June 25, to finalize the sporting program for the 2030 Winter Olympics.

Nordic combined, a historic discipline featuring both ski jumping and cross-country skiing, has been an Olympic staple since the inaugural Chamonix Games in 1924. Despite its long heritage, the sport encountered significant controversy at the Milan-Cortina 2026 Winter Games, where it stood alone as the only event without female competitors. Although women compete at all other levels of the sport and there is a broad movement toward gender parity within the Olympics, efforts to introduce a women’s category to the elite Olympic program have so far failed.

Ilkka Herola, a two-time medalist at the 2026 Winter Games, criticized the potential uncertainty facing the sport. "If the Olympics are about the best athletes and the toughest challenges, then Nordic combined should be evolving, not facing uncertainty," Herola stated.

Parallel giant slalom (PGS) in snowboarding has been part of the Olympic landscape since its Salt Lake City debut in 2002, four years after snowboarding’s initial introduction in Nagano 1998. Unlike the earlier halfpipe and giant slalom formats, which were judged against the clock, PGS features head-to-head racing on identical, side-by-side courses.

Alex Payer, a three-time Winter Olympian, defended the format’s integrity. "PGS is one of the only formats where everything is truly equal - same course, same conditions, same start, same chance. That fairness is rare in sport," Payer said. "If you take it out of the Olympic programme, you take away one of the purest expressions of competition we have."

Should these two sports be dropped, they could be replaced by freeriding and ice climbing for the 2030 Games, which are scheduled to run from February 1 to 17. Freeriding involves skiers and snowboarders navigating off-piste terrain of their own choosing while performing tricks, with judges scoring based on course difficulty, jumps, and overall performance. Ice climbing features athletes scaling frozen waterfalls or glaciers, with the speed variant considered the most likely candidate for inclusion.

Speculation had previously suggested that cyclo-cross might also seek a spot on the program. However, IOC President Kirsty Coventry clarified last month that the committee would not include any summer sports or events that overlap seasonally with the Winter Games.

Source: BBC News Generated at: 2026-06-03 13:25:21 UTC