Japanese Olympic Medalist Switches From Nordic Combined to Ski Jumping as Sport Is Excluded From 2030 Olympics

The announcement that Nordic Combined has been removed from the 2030 Winter Olympics was met with dismay by Nordic Combined athletes. Many saw their hopes of pursuing their Olympic dreams crushed by the decision. Japanese Olympic medalist Ryota Yamamoto took a proactive approach: he is leaving Nordic Combined behind and switching to ski jumping full-time.

The Japanese athlete announced the move in late July, becoming the first prominent Nordic Combined athletes to change disciplines following the International Olympic Committee’s decision.

• Related: Nordic Combined Skiing Dropped from Olympic Program After Over 100 Years

Yamamoto is not just any Nordic Combined athlete — the 29-year-old is an Olympic bronze medalist, having helped Japan finish third in the men’s large-hill team event at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics. He also helped Japan finish sixth in the team sprint at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics.

After 10 seasons on the Nordic combined World Cup circuit, Yamamoto will now concentrate exclusively on the ski-jumping component of Nordic Combined.

“I have decided to turn to ski jumping,” the Japanese athlete announced. “Nordic Combined is a competition that made me grow a lot as a human being,” Yamamoto shared in a press release. He acknowledged the difficulty of the decision: “it was not an easy decision,” but admits that “the Olympic stage is still my biggest goal. The desire to pursue that dream again and challenge my potential also boosted this decision.” He hopes that his switch might bring back some attention to Nordic Combined.

Nordic Combined is one of skiing’s most demanding disciplines because athletes must excel at two very different sports. Competitors first ski jump, earning points that determine their starting position for a subsequent cross-country race. The winner is the athlete who completes the cross-country portion fastest.

Yamamoto has long been particularly strong on the jumping hill. At the 2022 Olympics, he won the ski-jumping portion of the normal-hill Nordic Combined event, recording a 108-meter jump. His jumping ability was again on display at the 2026 Milano Cortina Olympics. Yamamoto produced a 136.5-meter jump on the large hill, putting him at the top of the jumping standings before the cross-country portion.

His strength in the discipline makes the move to ski jumping a logical one. The catalyst for the decision, however, is the IOC’s decision to exclude Nordic Combined from the 2030 Winter Olympics in the French Alps.

Nordic combined has been part of every Winter Olympics since the inaugural Games in 1924, but the sport has faced increasing pressure over its limited global participation and the absence of a women’s Olympic event. The IOC’s decision means Nordic combined athletes currently have no Olympic competition to target in 2030.

Yamamoto is not the first athlete to switch from Nordic Combined to ski jumping. In 2025, Norwegian athlete Gyda Westvold Hansen made the same move. The five-time Nordic combined world champion switched to ski jumping after it became clear that women’s Nordic combined would not be added to the 2026 Winter Olympics. “I’m taking the only chance I have to get to the Olympics this winter, and that is to focus on ski jumping,” Westvold Hansen said at the time. She ultimately did not make Norway’s 2026 Olympic team.

Yamamoto and Westvold Hansen both walked away from a discipline in which they had spent years competing and excelling to keep their Olympic dreams alive.