Schumer: Include women's Nordic combined in Olympics

WASHINGTON — Sen. Chuck Schumer called on the International Olympic Committee 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 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,” Schumer said in a statement.

“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 10 podium finishes in this year’s Nordic Combined World Cup.

Team USA women athletes are already inspiring dozens of junior athletes by 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 adding women’s Nordic Combined to the Winter Olympics would not only expand opportunities for women athletes from upstate 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.