Dozens of athletes gathered this weekend at Prémanon (Jura), host of the French Biathlon and Nordic Combined Championships. The perfect time to demonstrate in support of The combined event remains in the Olympic programOn Saturday, the athletes gathered at the foot of the ski jump behind a giant banner where one could read " Save Nordic combined! »
#NordicCombined "Save Nordic combined!": a banner in support of the threatened sport was displayed at the French Championships. 🔽https://t.co/4BfYYlpi4P
— Nordic Magazine (@NordicMag) March 28, 2026
The biathletes also expressed their support posing with a sign " Save Nordic Combined ", like Camille Bened or Antonin Guigonnat. A forty Olympic medalistsAmong them, Jean-Claude Killy, Marie-José Pérec, Jason Lamy Chappuis, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Mathis Desloges, and Lou Jeanmonnot, signed a letter of support. Removing this original discipline of skiing would be to betray a century of Olympic history " she said, recalling that the Nordic combined is " a pillar of the Games ", which have been part of the program since 1924, that it has been able to adapt by developing shorter formats, and that it is " a suspenseful sport where more and more nations are performing.
The IOC had issued a serious warning about the Olympic future of sport after the Beijing 2022 Games, pointing out disappointing ratings and a lack of diversity in the geographical representation of participants. The FIS was optimistic before the Olympics. Over the past two years, we have broken records among young people in terms of participation, for both men and women. We see very positive results » Lasse Ottesen told us, race director of Nordic combined within the FIS. The fate of Nordic combined will be decided at the end of June.
