The first Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The number of events has grown significantly over the years. Beginning in 1984, women biathletes had their own World Championships, and finally, from 1989, both genders have been participating in joint Biathlon World Championships. In 1978 the development was enhanced by the change from the large army rifle calibre to a small bore rifle, while the range to the target was reduced from 150 to 50 meters.
Sven Fischer is a former German biathlete. He trained with the WSV Oberhof 05 club, and was coached by Frank Ullrich and Fritz Fischer and Klaus Siebert. After the 2006/07 biathlon season, he retired.
Emil Hegle Svendsen is a retired Norwegian biathlete. He has won eight medals at Winter Olympics and five individual gold medals and seven relay gold medals at World Championships.
Carl Johan Bergman is a former Swedish biathlete. He lives in Lillehammer, Norway with his Norwegian wife, Liv Kjersti Eikeland. He is 5 ft 8½ in (174 cm), and weighs 152 lb (69 kg; 10 st 12 lb).
Pavel Aleksandrovich Rostovtsev is a Russian former biathlete.
Kaisa Leena Mäkäräinen is a Finnish former world-champion and 3-time world-cup-winning biathlete, who currently competes for Kontiolahden Urheilijat. Outside sports, Mäkäräinen is currently studying to be a Physics teacher at the University of Eastern Finland in Joensuu. Her team coach is Jonne Kähkönen, while Jarmo Punkkinen is her ski coach.
Jakov Fak is a Croatian biathlete competing for Slovenia since 2010. As a member of the Croatian biathlon team, Fak won bronze medals at the 2009 World Championships and at the 2010 Winter Olympics, where he was also the Croatian flag bearer at the opening ceremony. In 2010, Fak switched his citizenship and started competing for Slovenia. Fak won four medals at the World Championships with the Slovenian team, including two gold and a silver medal at the 2018 Winter Olympics. In addition, Fak has eight victories in the World Cup.
The 2009–10 Biathlon World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season of biathlon, organised by the International Biathlon Union. The season started 2 December 2009 in Östersund, Sweden and ended 28 March 2010 with the Mixed Relay World Championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. Races of the season were broadcast in Europe on Eurosport channel.
Tarjei Bø is a Norwegian professional biathlete. Awarded Olympic gold medals, World Championship gold medals and World Cup victories from 2010 to 2022. Bø debuted in the Biathlon World Cup on 26 March 2009 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. In the 2010 Winter Olympics, he earned his first gold medal in the 4 × 7.5 km biathlon relay. On 10 December 2010 he won the World Cup sprint race in Hochfilzen, his first world cup victory. He also won the following pursuit race and anchored the winning relay team. Bø is the older brother of biathlete Johannes Thingnes Bø.
Serhiy Oleksandrovych Semenov is a Ukrainian biathlete. He is first Ukrainian male biathlete to win a World Cup title in a single discipline, having become World Cup champion in the individual in the 2014–15 season. He is two-time World Championships medalist.
Dmytro Pidruchnyi is a Ukrainian biathlete. He participated at 2014 and 2018 Winter Olympics. In March 2022, Pidruchnyi joined the Ukrainian National Guard to fight during the 2022 Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Monika Hojnisz, now Monika Hojnisz-Staręga, is a Polish biathlete. She competes in the Biathlon World Cup. Hojnisz won a bronze medal at the Biathlon World Championships 2013. In December 2018 she scored her best World Cup finish, taking second place in the 15 km individual at the Pokljuka round of the World Cup. She finished sixth in the 15 km individual at the 2018 Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
Anastasiya Merkushyna is a Ukrainian biathlete. She is World Championships medalist. She participated at 2018 Winter Olympics.
Miroslav Matiaško is a former Slovak biathlete.
Hidenori Isa is a former Japanese biathlete. He was one of the top male Japanese biathletes from 2000 until his retirement in 2014.
Vyacheslav Derkach is a former Ukrainian biathlete.
Justine Braisaz-Bouchet is a French biathlete, Olympic champion in the 12.5 km mass start at the 2022 Beijing Games and medalist at the Winter Olympics 2018 and World Championships.
The Biathlon World Championships 2021 took place in Pokljuka, Slovenia, from 9 to 21 February 2021.
Émilien Jacquelin is a French biathlete. He competed in the 2018 Winter Olympics and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
Fabien Claude is a French biathlete.
