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sports Thursday 16 June 2022
Winter Olympics may not include Nordic combined for 1st time

By LARRY LAGE ter cross-country course.
Nordic combined, which The athlete who wins the
uniquely tests skiers on jaw- ski jumping stage starts the
dropping jumps and heart- cross-country race in the
pounding trails, has been a front of the pack, followed
part of the Winter Olympics by the rest of the competi-
since 1924. Its time might tion in their order of finish
be up. and then they race to the
It is the only Olympic sport line for gold.
without women and the In- While Nordic combined is
ternational Olympic Com- a fringe sport in the United
mittee is due to make a States, it is very popular in
decision later this month parts of Europe and Japan.
about whether to allow "It's really big in countries
women to compete in Nor- like Norway, Germany and
dic combined at the 2026 Austria," U.S. Olympic Nor-
Milan-Cortina d'Ampezzo dic combined skier Jared
Games. Shumate said. "Those three
There is the possibility, how- countries usually dominate
ever, that Nordic com- the world cup podiums,
bined is dropped entirely and Olympic podiums. And
from the Olympics, accord- obviously, we don't have
ing to athletes and advo- United States' Annika Malacinski competes during the Nordic combined World Cup mixed team quite the same fame."
cates. normal hill HS 106, in Val di Fiemme, Italy, Jan. 7, 2022. Annika Malacinski is one of
"What I heard loud and Associated Press dozens of women around
clear in back channels is the world who have sac-
that the solution to take "We're seeing sports such as Jasper Good, who com- "We do hear speculation rificed a lot of time and
care of the gender equity ski mountaineering added peted for the U.S. earlier this from different sides," Ot- money to go for Olympic
dirty secret is to take men and I'm hearing the IOC year at the Beijing Olym- tesen said Wednesday. "If gold. The 21-year-old Mala-
out of the program for does not want to increase pics, said he was "blindsid- the IOC, for some reason, cinski, who has American-
2026," said Billy Demong, a the number of athletes and ed" by the possibility. would make a decision Finnish dual citizenship and
five-time Olympian in Nor- the solution is take men out "Information is trickling to us not to include women for competes for the U.S., had
dic combined and mem- of Nordic combined," De- from athlete groups from the '26 events, what would high hopes of competing in
ber of USA Nordic's board mong said Tuesday in an around the world and na- happen with the men's? China dashed in 2018.
of directors. "To take away interview with The Associ- tional governing bodies, Would that be sort of a sig- The IOC executive board
one of the original sports ated Press. and most of us didn't real- nal to say you're on for the considered denied an ap-
from the first Winter Olym- Men in the Nordic com- ize the sport is in jeopardy," '26 events, but for '30, we plication then that would
pics would be tragic, short- bined have been publicly he said. are thinking gender equal- have allowed her and
sighted and misguided." pushing on social media International Ski Federation ity and then the men are other women to compete
The IOC said final decisions and elsewhere for women Nordic combined race di- out." in Nordic combined at the
on the 2026 Olympics pro- to be included, adding rector Lasse Ottesen said Nordic combined skiers Beijing Games. IOC sports
gram of medal events are a mixed team format as he has not heard officially must have finesse and director Kit McConnell said
scheduled to be decided another Olympic medal from the IOC about men fearlessness for ski jump- then that development in
at a June 24 meeting of its event, and are now brac- potentially being eliminat- ing while training to have terms of the universality,
executive board, chaired ing for their future as ath- ed from the Olympic pro- the strength and stamina competitiveness,and fol-
by president Thomas Bach. letes on the world's stage. gram. necessary for a 10-kilome- lowing was needed.q

Moncada's five hits, five RBIs lead White Sox past Tigers

By DAVE HOGG (1-2) pitched 5 1/3 innings The White Sox grabbed
DETROIT (AP) — Yoán of three-hit ball for the win. a 3-0 lead on Moncada's
Moncada had five hits and Tigers manager A.J. Hinch third homer with two out
five RBIs, including a run- gave up on his pitching staff in the first. He also singled
scoring single against Kody after six innings, using posi- in Abreu in the eighth and
Clemens, and the Chicago tion players Harold Castro ninth.
White Sox beat the Detroit for the seventh, Clemens Abreu and Harrison added
Tigers 13-0 on Wednesday for the eighth, and Tucker RBI singles in the third, and
for a three-game series Barnhart for the ninth. Mendick made it 6-0 with a
sweep. It was the pitching debut homer on Faedo's first pitch
Moncada, Danny Mendick for the 26-year-old Clem- of the fourth.
and Seby Zavala homered ens, whose father, Rog- White Sox right-hander
for Chicago, which had er, won seven Cy Young Vince Velasquez pitched
dropped four of five be- Awards. Kody Clemens was 2 2/3 innings before Martin
fore arriving in Detroit. José charged with a run and came in. Velasquez was
Abreu had four hits and three hits — one more than activated off the injured list Chicago White Sox's Yoan Moncada reacts to his single against
drove in two runs, and An- he has managed in his 23 before the game after be- the Detroit Tigers in the fourth inning of a baseball game in De-
drew Vaughn had three career at-bats. ing sidelined by a strained troit, Wednesday, June 15, 2022.
hits. Tigers starter Alex Faedo left groin. Associated Press
The White Sox finished with (1-3) allowed seven runs Zavala's two-run homer
22 hits, compared to four and nine hits in three-plus made it 9-0 in the fifth, and White Sox to double digits last Chicago starter to get
for the Tigers. Davis Martin innings. Adam Engel's triple got the in the sixth. Engel was the a hit.q