Female athletes competing in Nordic combined plan to stage a protest Friday over the lack of a women's event at the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics.

Nordic combined has been part of every Winter Games program since 1924, but it’s facing existential questions stemming from participation numbers and gender equity.

These Games are crucial for a sport facing an uncertain future.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) has explained why women are banned from competing in Nordic combined at the 2026 Winter Olympics.

Women have never competed in Nordic combined at the Olympics. The IOC is touting the 2026 Games as “the most gender-balanced Olympic Winter Games in history,” with women making up 47 percent of athletes. Twelve of the 16 disciplines include full gender parity. But one discipline lacks a women’s event altogether: Nordic combined.

Nordic combined has been part of the Winter Olympic Games since 1924. Despite that long history, women have never been allowed to compete in the sport at the Olympic level. And it’s not for lack of trying. There were formal proposals to include women for both the 2022 and 2026 Games. Both were denied.

By Philip O'Connor STOCKHOLM, Jan 27 (Reuters) - The world's best female Nordic combined athletes will stage a protest about their exclusion from the Winter Olympics at their final competition ahead of the 2026 Games in Milano Cortina,

MILAN, Italy (AP) — Annika Malacinski remembers the moment the door to the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics was slammed shut. On a flight from Munich to Denver, she bought airplane Wi-Fi to join a conference call with the International Olympic Committee,