| Host city | Hochfilzen, Tyrol |
|---|---|
| Country | Austria |
| Events | 3 |
| Opening | 2 March 1978 |
| Closing | 5 March 1978 |
The 16th Biathlon World Championships were held in 1978 in Hochfilzen, Austria. [1]
| Medal | Name | Nation | Penalties | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
 | Odd Lirhus |  NOR | 1 | 1:05:25.3 |
 | Frank Ullrich |  GDR | 2 | 1:05:37.7 |
 | Eberhard Rösch | GDR | 2 | 1:06:04.2 |
| Medal | Name | Nation | Penalties | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Frank Ullrich | GDR | 0 | 32:17.4 |
| Eberhard Rösch | GDR | 0 | 32:38.1 |
| Klaus Siebert | GDR | 0 | 33:02.8 |
| Medal | Name | Nation | Penalties | Result |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| East Germany | GDR | ||
| Norway | NOR | ||
| West Germany Heinrich Mehringer |  FRG |
| Place | Nation | | | | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | East Germany | 2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 | Norway | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 3 | West Germany | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not timed per se, but depending on the competition, missed shots result in extra distance or time being added to the contestant's total.
The first Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The original team event, Team (time), was held for the last time in 1965, to be replaced in 1966 by the team event, Relay, which we know today. 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.
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Biathlon debuted at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California with the men's 20 km individual event. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, the men's 4 × 7.5 km relay debuted, followed by the 10 km sprint event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Beginning at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, women's biathlon debuted with the 15 km individual, 3 × 7.5 km relay, and 7.5 km sprint. A pursuit race was included at the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City. The top 60 finishers of the sprint race would qualify for the pursuit event. The sprint winner starts the race, followed by each successive biathlete at the same time interval they trailed the sprint winner in that event. At the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin, a mass start was introduced where the top 30 biathletes from the previous four events were allowed to start together for the competition.
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