– Like taking away athletics from the summer Olympics – news Sport – Sports news, results and broadcast schedule

– We see that sports like randonee come on the program, and I hear that the IOC is concerned about the increasing number of participants. One solution would be to remove the combined, says Bill Demong to the news agency AP. The American became Olympic champion in Vancouver in 2010 and also has World Cup gold on his CV. Until recently, he was the leader of the combined ski federation of the United States, and he is still a board member. OLYMPIC HERO: Bill Demong became Olympic champion in Whistler Mountain in 2010. Photo: Heiko Junge / NTB – What I hear clearly through back channels is that the solution to create gender balance is that they remove combined for men from the Olympic program in 2026 , he says. Also the last seasons’ big combined profile, Jarl Magnus Riiber, says that they have heard talk that the IOC has considered just removing the combined completely from the program. He does not like what he hears. – I think that idea is very passive and simply not good enough. That it is the solution to the problem is too thin for me, he says. CRITICAL: Jarl Magnus Riiber thinks it would be hopeless to take away combined from the Olympic program. Photo: news – As an athlete Riiber is clear on what he thinks about a possible Winter Olympics without combined, which has been on the program since the first winter games in Chamonix in 1924. – Combined is a historic branch, which has been there from the beginning of . It started with combined for everyone who skis, he says. – It will be like taking athletics away from the Olympic program in the summer. So there’s no theme here. If the IOC does not want the women into the program because it wants to increase the number of participants, Riiber is aware that action can be taken. FIRST: Thorleif Haug became history’s first Olympic champion in combined in Chamonix in 1924. Photo: NTB / NTB – If we guys have to give up 20-30 places to make room for the girls, it’s completely fair. It seems that they are very hard on that 2900 seats is max, and that they do not want to ease it. That we can make room for the girls is the least we can do for them to come along. – Do you understand that it is considered? – To be completely honest, they have to look at what the Olympics started with. What is the Winter Olympics? It started with six branches and combined was one of them. Historically, we have been involved from the start, and then we should be involved until the end and. The race director: – No signals The final decision on the Olympic exercises in 2026 will be made at the IOC board meeting on Friday 24 June. The IOC writes in an e-mail to news that the program commission before that will give its recommendations to the board. – Everything else is speculation, they write. Norway’s representative in the IOC, Kristin Kloster Aasen, does not want to comment on the case to news. Lasse Ottesen, race manager for combined in FIS, says that FIS has not received any signals from the IOC about this. RACE MANAGER IN FIS: Lasse Ottesen. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB – We have no signals that this will happen. But I have heard it mentioned to create a gender balance in the Winter Olympics in the future, so it would be an alternative. And I must say that it would be an extremely special alternative, he says, but emphasizes: – I am assured that if there is a discussion in that direction, FIS will be included at the general secretary and president level, says Ottesen . – Would have been a crisis Ottesen is honest that he is not the race director for the world’s biggest sport, but still believes they have something to do in an Olympics. – There is no world sport, such as football, tennis and golf, we are fully aware of that, but there are not many of the other Winter Olympics or Summer Olympics, so to speak, he says. – We have had a positive development in recent years, especially with women, who have increased the number of licensees to operate combined around the world with large percentages. We feel that combined is in a good development. – What does it mean if combined is removed from the program? – There is no doubt that if combined in the future should not be part of the Olympic program, there will be a crisis for the discipline in general, he says. TOTAL: The Norwegian women and men runners had a joint medal celebration during the WC in Oberstdorf in 2021. Photo: Terje Pedersen / NTB



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