Norway's Jens Lurås Oftebro won his third gold of the Milan/Cortina Olympics in the Nordic combined team sprint on Thursday as Germany - thanks to a double fall - ended a Winter Games without a medal in the discipline for the first time since 1998.

Jens Luraas Oftebro, of Norway, from right, Eero Hirvonen, of Finland and Johannes Lamparter, of Austria, compete in the nordic combined team sprint at the 2026 Winter Olympics, in Tesero, Italy, Thursday, Feb. 19, 2026. Credit: AP/Kirsty Wigglesworth

Reigning World Cup champion Vinzenz Geiger fell not once but twice in the concluding super team event as Nordic combined powerhouses Germany finished without a medal in the sport for the first time in 28 years.

Nordic combined is the only Olympic sport that doesn't allow women to compete, despite athletes' efforts to change that. They say their odds for 2030 hinge on people watching men's events this week.

Norway swept the Nordic combined events at the Milan Cortina Winter Games in what could be the final time the sport is featured in the Olympics.

Nordic combined — ski jumping and cross-country in one — remains the only Winter Olympic sport that does not include women, even though women compete on the World Cup circuit and at world championships. “It’s heartbreaking, it really is,” U.S. team skier Annika Malacinski told the Associated Press.

For Norwegian Nordic combined skiers Jens and Einar Luraas Oftebro, competing together at the Winter Olympics means almost as much as winning medals.

TESERO, Italy (AP) — U.S. team skier Annika Malacinski attended the Nordic combined at the Milan Cortina Olympics on Tuesday to cheer for her younger brother. And protest. Annika came from her training base in Norway to watch brother Niklas finish 13th in his Olympic debut.