MOSCOW, Mar 13 The International Olympic Committee (IOC) and the International Ski Federation Sports (FIS) are discussing the abandonment of the classic men's and women's cross-country ski relays from 2026, Ole Morten Iversen, coach of the Norwegian women's cross-country skiing team, announced this. Instead, they plan to hold a mixed relay with the participation of two skiers and two skiers. The medley relay was introduced as a pilot project at the Falun World Cup in Sweden on Sunday, with the US team winning the race. «IOC and FIS are signaling this (removal of the men's and women's relays). They need new species, but something will be lost. One of the proposals is that the relays should disappear and instead there should be a mixed relay. It was discussed at meetings, and I saw written evidence from the FIS and the IOC. The decision has not yet been made, «Dagbladet quotes Iversen. Four times Norwegian Olympic champion Teresa Johaug criticized the possible abandonment of relay races. “I don’t think they should remove the women’s and men’s relay races. I know about these plans and I think that this is a huge injustice,” Johaug said.
