Why Freeride Was Added To the Olympics, and How Athletes Feel About The Decision

The timing is appropriate. The decision was smart. The future seems bright.

Forty-four freeride skiers and snowboarders, 22 male and 22 female, will navigate precipitous slopes, fearlessly launch off cliffs, and demonstrate their true potential in front of a global audience, seeking Olympic glory and medals, at the Alpes 2030 Olympic Winter Games.

The International Olympic Committee (IOC) Executive Board got this one right. They approved Freeriding as an Olympic sport for the upcoming Winter Games in the French Alps. It was a momentous decision for the sports, with the future Olympic venue still to be finalized, but to be staged in the Montgenèvre venue cluster, near Olympic freestyle skiing and snowboard events.

Sun Valley, Idaho’s Toby Rafford, 23, who skied to second overall on this past season’s Freeride World Tour (FWT), said it would be an honor for him to become an Olympian.

“Freeride skiing going to the Olympics was inevitable, with the constant progression we’ve been seeing, it was definitely the next step,” Rafford tells POWDER. 

“There will be significantly more support and resources. It’s hard to see Freeride skiing become more formalized, but I think it will be very beneficial. The goal for me has never been just about medals; the Olympics won’t change my perspective on skiing. 

“I hope that the true Freeride stays intact and there’s other paths for the upcoming generations of kids. I’m excited to see how it goes and would be honored to compete in 2030,” he said.

Utah’s Ross Tester, 27, who finished third, just behind Rafford in the FWT standings, expressed disbelief and gratitude.

“Freeriding becoming a part of the Olympics is something I never would have imagined,” Tester said. “The idea of potentially becoming an Olympic athlete is really exciting. I think it would be awesome for elevating our sport in every way. Being able to share what we do with the world will mean a lot.”

Freeride World Tour CEO Nicolas Hale-Woods notes that the Olympic ticket is the product of years of determination, development, and dazzling on the mountain, both freeride skiers and snowboarders, competitively and recreationally.

“It’s a moment of joy for the entire freeride community, and the result of three decades of commitment and dedication alongside an incredible team,” Hale-Woods tells POWDER. 

“My first thoughts go to the riders, from those who first believed in this discipline and helped build it, to the young athletes who can now dream of an Olympic medal. I think too of the organizers and everyone who has grown this sport over the years, and of all the partners who trusted us throughout the journey. Whatever the stage, the spirit of freeride remains.”

Along with the approval of the new Olympic disciplines of freeride skiing/snowboarding and women’s synchronized figure skating, the IOC also finalized athlete quotas and other related details for the Alpes 2030 Games sport program, officially confirmed and announced in Lausanne, Switzerland, on Tuesday, July 7, 2026.

For the first time in the 106-year history of the Winter Olympics, Alpes 2030 will be entirely gender balanced. The breakdown of 126 total Olympic events is 56 for women, 55 for men, and 15 mixed events, across 17 disciplines and eight sports. The total quota of 3,046 athletes amounts to a 50% split between male and female Olympians (1,525 female, 1,521 male).

Alps 2030 president and 1992 Olympic mogul gold medalist Edgar Grospiron is stoked about the new disciplines and adaptable direction of the movement, while allowing France, first out of the gate, to showcase its alpine roots in the lifestyle sport.

“The chosen sporting program also reflects the Games’ capacity to reinvent themselves while remaining true to their core identity,” Grospiron said. “The inclusion of freeride and synchronized figure skating illustrates this commitment to opening the Games to new disciplines and new audiences. In the French Alps, these sports will find an exceptional setting.”

Snowboard Parallel Giant Slalom Remains for Alps 2030

The extroverted and outspoken two-time Olympic snowboard parallel giant slalom champion Ester Ledecka can let out a huge sigh of relief. Her fans in Czechia are happy too.

In 2022, the IOC opted to scrutinize the futures of snowboard parallel giant slalom (PGS) and Nordic combined, considering difficulties observed in past editions of the Games from a participation and audience engagement perspective.

Many in the alpine snowboard community believed that PGS was inevitably doomed, including Ester herself, also an Olympic champion alpine skier. A precarious position for the discipline, which made its Olympic debut at Salt Lake City 2002.

“I am very sad that they would even consider taking the snowboarding out of the Olympic Games, and rather put some f—— video games in the Olympics, or something like that,” said the Olympic skiing and snowboarding champion.

“If you look around, I think we proved again that we belong here because the people came to see us,” she said at the Livigno venue. “It’s a lot of people, and they had so much fun, and I could feel it because I heard them at the start. It was an amazing atmosphere.”

The IOC conducted a global performance study covering all Olympic Winter Games sports, disciplines, and events across markets on all five continents. The evaluation during Milan-Cortina 2026 measured 14 popularity indicators across broadcast coverage, digital media, general public interest, ticketing, and press, involving up to 50-plus markets per indicator.

Luckily for Ledecka and her fellow boarders, the IOC EB noted that snowboard PGS had demonstrated significant improvement since Beijing 2022, over a number of popularity indicators. It was therefore decided to retain the men’s and women’s PGS events for the Alpes 2030 program.

The Czech superstar Ledecka—Olympic snowboard PGS champion in PyeongChang 2018 and Beijing 2022—can now once again pursue an unprecedented third PGS gold medal, and also attempt to match Shaun White’s three snowboard halfpipe gold medals. She will be 34 years old, come Alpes 2030.

Nordic Combined Snubbed by IOC

It is a traditional sporting discipline that has been featured on every edition of the Olympic Winter Games since Chamonix 1924. In our current era of sporting specialization, Nordic combined has been somewhat of an anomaly, contested by diverse, multi-talented Nordic athletes, pairing ski jumping and cross-country skiing.

The IOC officially removed Nordic combined from the Olympic sport program, effective for 2030, as announced yesterday, July 7. The world sports body cited extensive evaluation and analysis, concluding that popularity and universality are declining. While further details were not disclosed, the IOC EB said that the longstanding sport fell near the bottom of all current Olympic sporting disciplines in the evaluation across 14 performance categories. 

International Ski Federation (FIS) sport and event director Sandra Spitz expressed the federation’s severe disappointment with the IOC’s decision, despite the two governing bodies working as tight-knit partners delivering all Winter Games.

“The decision is deeply disappointing for the entire Nordic combined community,” Spitz said. “Our athletes have invested years of dedication, hard work, and sacrifice in pursuit of Olympic participation, and the Olympic Winter Games have always represented the highest stage for our sport.”

The decision also comes as a shock to women’s Nordic combined, with the ambitious ladies aspiring to earn Olympic status amid their ever-evolving World Cup standings.

U.S. Ski & Snowboard lightly expressed its disapproval of the decision in a statement.

“We understand the IOC weighs many factors in shaping the Olympic program, and we respect that process. While we are happy that parallel giant slalom snowboarding will stay in the Olympics, we are disappointed by the decision to remove Nordic combined from the Olympic program.”

Nordic combined may not be grounded forever. Based upon future performance evaluation and analysis, it has the opportunity to return to the Olympic sport program for the Utah 2034 Winter Games.

Related: The POWDER Staff Reacts To Freeride’s Olympic Inclusion