The GIST: The first of three men’s Nordic combined events is currently underway, but their women counterparts weren’t even invited to the Olympic party. That’s right, Nordic combined’s the only current winter Olympic sport exclusively contested by men. Certainly don’t love that.

🤔 What exactly is Nordic combined?: The unique dual-sport event is a combination of ski jumping and cross country skiing. First, athletes compete in one round of ski jumping. Those results determine where they start the 10km cross country race that follows. The staggered start ensures the athletes who jump the farthest receive a time advantage.

• So, why isn’t there a women’s event at the Games despite the sport being part of the Olympic program since 1924? Stop us if you’ve heard this one before, but it seems to be rooted in assumptions that the women’s event isn’t worth investing in. Hmm.

With some help from friend of The GIST, Finnish-American skier Annika Malacinski (whose brother is competing at these Games), let’s dispel two misconceptions:

1️⃣ There aren’t enough women competing: Yes, Nordic combined is a niche winter sport, but Malacinski said there are 30 Olympic-caliber women from nine different countries, not far off the field for today’s individual normal hill men’s event that features 36 athletes from 15 countries.

• What’s more, there’s regularly scheduled international competition every year, meaning there’s already a pipeline in place for the women’s side to continue to grow, an opportunity that would only flourish with the inclusion of the sport at the Games.

2️⃣ Viewership and interest will be low: People aren’t watching the men, but that doesn’t mean the same will be true for the women. Malacinski’s fight for equality has gone viral, while other sports — take U.S. women’s soccer, for example — have proven that low metrics for the men aren’t predictive for the women. Including women just might save the sport, actually.