Freeride Added to Winter Olympics From French Alpes 2030

As part of a regular event review panel, today - 7th July 2026 - the International Olympic Committee (IOC) confirmed that freeride (ski and snowboard) athletes will feature for the first time on an Olympic stage.

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The Alpes 2030 discipline and event programme was approved by the IOC EB following the recommendations of the Olympic Programme Working Group (OPWG), which assessed the proposals submitted by the International Federations (IFs) and the Organising Committee with regard to ski mountaineering.

Overall, 26 new events were proposed by the IFs and the Organising Committee. The IOC EB decided to add three disciplines and 16 events, to enhance gender equality, innovation and youth interest, in line with the principles approved in 2024.

Image courtesy FWT/IOC

Freeride (ski and snowboard) and synchro9 (figure skating) will make their first appearance on the Olympic stage at Alpes 2030.

Freeride has experienced rapid international growth, benefitting from a strong youth fanbase and visually spectacular competition. It uses a natural field of play, which minimises its impact on the Games. Comprising four events, it will provide an Olympic opportunity for 44 athletes (22 women and 22 men) to compete at the Games for the first time. Freeride started in the 1990s to develop as a discipline.

As a result of additional changes introduced to the programme, Alpes 2030 is set to achieve gender parity by quota allocation for the first time in Olympic Winter Games history, building on the progress achieved at Milano Cortina 2026, which delivered the most gender-balanced edition to date.

Female athlete quota places will account for 50 per cent of the total quota of 3,046 athletes. The programme will also achieve parity in the number of events staged, with 56 women’s and 55 men’s events, in addition to 15 mixed events.

Additionally, four sports will increase women’s participation, with two reaching full parity:

• Luge: from 44.3% to 50%

• Skiing: from 48.6% to 50%

• Bobsleigh: from 32.9% to 39.5%

• Ice hockey: from 43.4% to 45.6%

The 2030 Winter Olympics - officially XXVI Olympic Winter Games - will take place at venues across the French Alps, including Val d'Isere, Courchevel, and Serre Chevalier between 1 and 17 February 20230. It will be the fourth time France has hosted the games after Albertville 1992, Grenoble 1968, and the original incarnation of the games in Chamonix in 1924.