Nordic combined and parallel giant slalom face Olympic verdict

Nordic combined and snowboard parallel giant slalom face a battle to retain their Winter Olympic status when the International Olympic Committee (IOC) meets later this month to decide the sports for the 2030 programme.

Both are in danger of missing out on the Games, which will be staged in the French Alps, amid concerns over competitor numbers and viewing figures as the IOC puts more emphasis on sports which appeal to younger competitors and audiences.

The IOC will meet on Wednesday 24 and Thursday 25 June in Lausanne, Switzerland to confirm the sports for the next Winter Olympics.

Nordic combined, in which athletes compete in both ski jumping and cross-country skiing, is one of the oldest Winter Olympic disciplines and has been part of the programme since Chamonix 1924.

However, it was the only sport at Milan-Cortina 2026 which did not have women competing.

With women taking part at all other levels and a general push towards gender parity at Olympics, there has been a strong push for inclusion at the highest level but to no avail.

"If the Olympics are about the best athletes and the toughest challenges, then Nordic combined should be evolving, not facing uncertainty," said Ilkka Herola, who won two medals at the 2026 Winter Games.

Snowboarding made its Winter Olympics debut in Nagano 1998 with halfpipe and giant slalom.

Riders competed against the clock before the head-to-head parallel giant slalom version on identical, side-by-side courses was introduced four years later in Salt Lake City.

Three-time Winter Olympian Alex Payer said: "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.

"If you take it out of the Olympic programme, you take away one of the purest expressions of competition we have."

Among the sports bidding to replace them in the programme for the Games, which are scheduled for 1-17 February 2030, are freeriding and ice climbing.

Freeriding allows skiers and snowboarders to choose their own off-piste course from top to bottom and also perform tricks as they descend.

They are judged on elements of their descent including the difficulty of the course, jumps and performance.

In ice climbing, competitors climb up a frozen waterfall or glaciers with a speed version favourite for inclusion.

There had been speculation that cyclo-cross would be also be aiming for inclusion but last month IOC president Kirsty Coventry said that "no summer sports and no seasonal crossover events" would be part of the programme.