Perhaps this winter duel was too successful. Everything went by itself, from 1924, when Nordic combined played in the first modern games, until today. They organized exciting competitions, at least for the special fans, only one was left out for too long. Whether due to doubts about the maturity or the right time or maybe out of disinterest – a women’s NoKo was missing, as the last of all disciplines.
The decision-makers in the World Ski Association will then have been overtaken, and it may now be too late. Since 2017, the combined scene has matured and can now perform a serious duel at the World Championships in Planica. And yet there is concern that it will soon be over again. Because the International Olympic Committee (IOC) will only accept the combined athletes for 2030, which should deter interested parties.
Seven years until you can take part in the most important sporting event? And that with reservations, so maybe even longer? At the end of these thoughts there is also the end of the entire sport – in any case, top combined athletes such as Olympic champion Eric Frenzel fear a creeping end to the entire division, at some point beyond the Olympics.
There are enough ideas – a creative skating course is being discussed
This sport, its planners and coaches face several problems. In addition to the women’s division, which is officially regarded as still too immature (which is developing almost twice as fast as the men’s), other difficulties are pressing. The sport still demands a lot of patience from the spectators. The proven Gundersen format (start cross-country skiing according to the jumping results) has been streamlined, but the atmosphere in the first discipline is still moderate, although it is about ski jumping, which is otherwise booming. But here it is only the first discipline and mostly in the morning. There is also a permanent problem with the inflow, the NoKo is not a mass sport because its students are dependent on a ski jump near their parents’ house.
And then the question remains as to how long combo sport can last at all – in view of new, partly compositional disciplines, just in the spectacular snowboard, ski cross or parallel variants, in which, in addition to the competition, it is also about an attitude to life. The strict old combination, on the other hand, with its deliberately contradictory ideals (free flying and toiling on the cross-country ski run) still pursues the ideal of the universal athlete, similar to the sometimes lengthy multi-competition disciplines in gymnastics or athletics.
The IOC is now demanding improvements for all these construction sites, otherwise it wouldn’t keep the Nordic athletes waiting so long. But improvements have been discussed and implemented for years. The break between the disciplines is currently supposed to be even shorter, so that even more live jumping would make sense. The associations have also started a program for the Olympics project. Under the motto “Nations help Nations”, talents outside of the winter sports countries are also promoted. And even interventions in the established order are no longer taboo. A modification of combined cross-country skiing is being planned together with a sponsor: Instead of running through the good old, lonely winter trail, the runners should master a course with obstacles such as smaller jumps or slalom passages.
In the end, a versatile format always needs a little more time for the competition, the spectator needs patience and previous knowledge. However, winter sports still require a diverse range of activities, with both new and old disciplines. It would be especially desirable for the young Nordic athletes that the IOC recognizes this.