Nordic combined faces an existential crisis after the International Olympic Committee removed the traditional winter sport from the Olympic program starting with the 2030 Winter Games in the French Alps. Eric Frenzel, head coach of the German Nordic combined team and a three-time Olympic champion, told the German newspaper Die Zeit that the sport will not survive past the next one to two years without Olympic status and national funding.
Olympic Exclusion Triggers Severe Financial and Institutional Collapse
The IOC confirmed the removal of Nordic combined following evaluations of popularity and geographic participation across the 2014, 2018, 2022, and 2026 Winter Olympics. The governing body cited that the sport was the least popular of the Winter Games during those years alongside a lack of global breadth, noting that athletes from just five nations captured all the medals across the past four Olympic cycles. In place of Nordic combined, the 2030 Winter Games will introduce freeride events and expand existing disciplines.
For Germany, the ruling has triggered immediate infrastructural cutbacks. National support systems are dismantling specialized programs as funding discussions yield negative results. The Research Centre for the Development of Sports Equipment and the Institute for Applied Training Science will both terminate their collaborative work with Nordic combined athletes at the end of the year. Frenzel explained that these institutions provided vital material development and knowledge-sharing resources that are no longer accessible to the team.
Additional institutional backing remains uncertain. Funding through the Sporthilfe, specialized boarding school sponsorships, and the ongoing maintenance of training facilities face potential cuts. Without these financial pillars, Frenzel warned that the sport cannot sustain itself, noting that youth participation will likely plummet as children choose other disciplines.
Athletes Voice Despair as the World Cup Season Approaches
The German squad enters the upcoming World Cup campaign under a cloud of uncertainty. Preparations ahead of the season opener on November 27, 2026, in Ruka, Finland, carry the heavy realization that the global circuit itself could soon fold. Vinzenz Geiger, who won team gold at the 2018 Pyeongchang Olympics and individual normal hill gold at the 2022 Beijing Games, described the team’s internal climate as one of profound hopelessness.
Frenzel echoed that sentiment, recalling his initial reaction to the IOC’s final decision as a profound shock that left him feeling as though he had lost the ground beneath his feet. He disputed the fairness of the metrics used by the IOC, pointing to competitive finishes at recent races in Italy—such as a normal hill race where seven athletes from five nations contested the medals on the final cross-country loop, won eventually by Norway’s Jens Lurås Oftebro—as evidence of strong international competition.
Next Checkpoint
The German team is scheduled to begin the upcoming international calendar at the World Cup opener in Ruka, Finland, on November 27, 2026.
Related reading
/data/photo/2026/10/04/6ac24aefac437.jpg)
