Organizers of traditional winter sports expressed their opposition on Wednesday to the inclusion of events from summer federations in the Winter Olympics program. Suggestions have been made to add cyclocross, cross-country running, and even indoor sports to the 2030 Winter Games, which will be hosted in the French Alps and Nice. However, the Winter Olympic Federations group of governing bodies released a statement rejecting these proposed additions as “piecemeal proposals.”
The group, which represents sports such as skiing, skating, biathlon, curling, luge, bobsled, and skeleton, emphasized their belief that incorporating such events would diminish the unique brand, heritage, and identity of the Olympic Winter Games. They view the Winter Games as a celebration of sports practiced on snow and ice, with their own distinct culture, athletes, and fields of play.
Following Kirsty Coventry’s assumption of office as the International Olympic Committee president in June, a review of the Winter Games program and related matters was initiated. Unlike the Summer Games, which featured 329 medal events in Paris last year, the Winter Games currently have only 116, leaving room for potential expansion.
The addition of cyclocross and cross-country running, typically held on mud terrains, would necessitate changes to the IOC’s Olympic Charter rules, which mandate that Winter Games sports must take place on snow and ice. Ivo Ferriani, the president of the bobsled and skeleton federation who represents winter sports on the IOC executive board, emphasized the importance of innovating existing winter sports to attract broader participation and audiences. He cited the upcoming Olympic debut of ski mountaineering, known as skimo, at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in February.
Although cyclocross and cross-country running have garnered support within Olympic circles, particularly from influential figures like David Lappartient and Sebastian Coe, the presidents of the governing bodies of cycling and track and field, the proposal has faced resistance from some winter sports officials. Max Cobb, the American secretary general of the International Biathlon Union, expressed skepticism, noting that if these sports were highly popular, they would already be included in the Summer Games. Cobb emphasized the importance of any Winter Games additions aligning with the family of snow and ice sports.