While the men of the Nordic Combined are excitedly looking forward to the 2026 Winter Olympics, the combined women are once again looking into the future. Overall World Cup winner Nathalie Armbruster goes against the grain – especially since it massively endangers the Olympic future of the entire sport.
“We are an integral part of winter sports, our competitions are of a very high quality. We perform and show a level that, in my opinion, is definitely worthy of the Olympics. It just feels unfair and derogatory,” the 19-year-old raged in the “Sport1” interview about the absence of the combined athletes in Milan and Cortina d’Ampezzo.
The decision to once again only allow male athletes to take part in the Olympic Games makes her “incredibly angry, it puts a lot of strain on me emotionally. The whole point is that the decision that was made in 2022 is simply no longer justifiable these days,” Armbruster added.
Nordic combination: Armbruster is “very, very worried”
The teenager made it clear that it was “the biggest mistake the IOC has made and it hasn’t come across correctly in my previous statements on the subject: “I think if they had said: ‘We’ll watch this for a few years first’, they would have made a different decision. Compared to 2022, the level has increased so much, there was a huge boost. There would no longer be any counterarguments.”
In addition, next year the IOC wants to decide whether Nordic combined can remain in the program at the Winter Olympics. The required gender equality could also be achieved by abolishing the entire sport by 2030. The combination has always been included in the Olympic Games since its premiere in 1924.
“I’m very, very worried about that,” said Armbruster: “We’re in the midst of uncertainty. If the decision in May turns out the way it has to, of course everything will be good. But if it turns out differently, we don’t know what that means. Whether there will still be World Cups at all. Whether the DSV would continue to support us.”