The International Olympic Committee this week approved changes for the 2030 Winter Olympics, hosted in the French Alps, by adding freeride skiing and snowboarding and a nine-skater “Synchro9” figure skating event. The IOC also announced the removal of Nordic combined from the Games for the first time in the discipline’s 102-year Olympic history. Nordic combined pairs a ski jump with a cross-country ski race, converting each athlete’s jump score into a head-start or time deficit that sets their position at the start of the race.
The decision makes Alpes 2030 the first Winter Games to achieve full gender parity, with 3,046 athletes—1,525 women and 1,521 men—expected to compete across 126 events. The IOC points to the addition of synchronized skating as a key factor in reaching that balance. Freeride skiing and snowboarding will add four events and 44 athletes to the program.
Nordic combined’s removal was not a surprise to those following the IOC’s evaluation. A federation review found the discipline ranked lowest among Winter Olympic sports across several popularity indicators from Sochi 2014 through Milano Cortina 2026, finishing last in 11 of 14 metrics measured at the most recent Games. The IOC had considered expanding the discipline with additional women’s and team events to address its gender imbalance, but ultimately chose to remove it from the 2030 program.
