How it feels to compete in the only Olympic sport not open to women

By Annika Malacinski, as told to Alex Azzi

There is a conversation I have about two or three times a month. I’ll be talking with someone at the gym or having a conversation with a stranger on a plane and I will mention that I compete in Nordic combined. And they will inevitably ask, ‘So are you training for the Olympics?’

And I have to explain that, because I’m a woman, I’m not able to compete at the Olympics.

Nordic combined is actually the only Olympic sport – summer or winter – that doesn’t have a women’s event.

People are always astonished to learn that women can’t compete at the Olympics. ‘That’s insane,’ they’ll say. ‘How can I help? Who can I write a letter to?’ They are genuinely amazed that, in 2022, we still don’t have gender equality.

The good news is that this might change soon.

On June 24, the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will decide whether to include women’s Nordic combined at the 2026 Milan-Cortina Winter Olympics. I have also heard rumors that the IOC might “fix” the gender inequality problem by dropping men’s Nordic combined from the Olympics. That would be even more awful. To “solve” equality, you’re going to take the men’s event away?

While men have competed in Nordic combined since the first Olympic Winter Games in 1924, I realize that lots of people still don’t know what our sport is. So here’s the gist: Nordic combined competitions start with ski jumping. You’re scored based on how far you jump, as well as your style in the air. Those results then determine where you start in the cross-country portion of the competition a couple hours later. The first person to cross the finish line is the winner.

I got started in Nordic combined pretty late. I grew up between the United States (where my