Schumer Calls on International Olympic Committee to Include Women’s Nordic Combined Competition in Upcoming 2030 Winter Olympics

Schumer Says Many Young Women Train In Upstate NY For A Chance To Represent Team USA And Allowing Them To Participate Gives Overdue Recognition For Their Athletic Accomplishments While Boosting Tourism And Winter Sports In Lake Placid And The North Country Currently Only Men Are Allowed To Compete In Nordic Combined – Which Combines Cross-Country Skiing And Ski Jumping – At Olympics Despite Increased Women’s Participation Schumer: Include Women’s Nordic Combined Competition In Olympic Games U.S. Senator Chuck Schumer called on the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to expand Nordic Combined in the Winter Olympics by including the women’s competition in the 2030 games. Nordic Combined is a winter sport in which athletes compete in cross-country skiing and ski jumping. Schumer explained that young women train in the North Country for a chance to represent Team USA, and allowing women to participate is a matter of fairness and opportunity. “Every year, women from across the country train at world-class facilities in Upstate New York like Lake Placid’s Olympic Ski Jumping Complex and Mt. Van Hoevenberg for a chance to represent Team USA in Nordic Combined. But they are excluded from competing on the Olympic stage because there is no women’s competition,” said Senator Schumer. “As American women excel at the Women’s World Championship, allowing women to compete is about more than fairness. It’s about recognizing their extraordinary athletic accomplishments. That’s why I’m calling on the IOC to right this wrong and allow women the same opportunities their male counterparts have.” More women have been participating in Nordic Combined, with ten podium finishes in this year’s Nordic Combined World Cup. Team USA women athletes are already inspiring dozens of junior athletes training and competing in Lake Placid. Nordic Combined has been part of the Winter Olympics since the first Games in 1924, but it is currently the only Winter Olympic sport that does not allow women to compete. Schumer said ensuring female athletes have the same opportunity as their male counterparts to compete on the Olympic Stage is about fairness and equal opportunity. Schumer said adding women’s Nordic Combined to the Winter Olympics would not only expand opportunities for women athletes from Upstate New York and across the country but would also strengthen Lake Placid’s role as a premier destination for winter sports, helping attract more international competitions, tourism, and investment to the region. Schumer’s letter to IOC President Kirsty Leigh Coventry can be found HERE or below: Dear President Coventry, Following the close of the 2026 Winter Olympics and the continued exclusion of Women’s Nordic Combined, I write to strongly encourage the International Olympic Committee (IOC) to expand and equalize Nordic Combined by including women’s competition in the 2030 Winter Olympic Games. Women’s participation in Nordic Combined has grown steadily over the past several years, yet opportunities to compete at the Olympic level have not kept pace. While top American athletes like Alexa Brabec, Annika Malacinski, and Tara Geraghty-Moats have excelled in the recently established Women’s World Championship, they have been forced to watch from the sidelines as their male counterparts compete on the Olympic stage. The IOC has long been a global leader in advancing women’s inclusion, and this represents another critical opportunity to reinforce that commitment as a growing number of women athletes from an expanding range of nations reach the international Nordic Combined podium. For New York, this issue is especially significant. The Olympic dreams of Nordic Combined athletes are shaped at New York’s world-class venues, Mt. Van Hoevenberg and the Lake Placid Olympic Ski Jumping Complex, where young women train year-round with hopes of representing Team USA. With strong performances from American women on the world stage already inspiring the next generation, including Women’s Nordic Combined in future Olympic Games would maximize New York’s millions of dollars in investment by expanding training opportunities, attracting more national and international competitions, driving tourism, and reinforcing Lake Placid’s role as a premier destination for winter sports. Expanding this sport is not only about fairness and equal opportunity for women athletes and providing long-overdue recognition for their achievements, but also about supporting regional economic growth, sustaining year-round use of New York’s world-class facilities, and ensuring New York remains at the forefront of Olympic development in the United States. Adding Women’s Nordic Combined would provide meaningful opportunities for female athletes while inspiring more young women to pursue excellence in one of winter sport’s most demanding disciplines. I urge you to reconsider and approve the addition of Women’s Nordic Combined for the 2030 Winter Olympic Games. ###