| Biathlon at the XVIII Olympic Winter Games | |
|---|---|
 | |
| Venue | Nozawa Onsen |
| Dates | 9–21 February |
| No. of events | 6 |
| Competitors | 183 from 32 nations |
| Biathlon at the 1998 Winter Olympics | ||
|---|---|---|
 | ||
| Individual | men | women |
| Sprint | men | women |
| Relay | men | women |
Biathlon at the 1998 Winter Olympics consisted of six biathlon events. They were held at Nozawa Onsen. The events began on 9 February and ended on 21 February 1998. [1] [2]
Eight nations won medals in biathlon, with Norway leading the medal table, thanks to five medals, 2 gold, the same as Germany. Uschi Disl was the only individual to win three medals, one of each type. Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Halvard Hanevold led the men's table, with one gold and one silver each.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Norway (NOR) | 2 | 2 | 1 | 5 |
| 2 |  Germany (GER) | 2 | 1 | 2 | 5 |
| 3 |  Russia (RUS) | 1 | 1 | 1 | 3 |
| 4 |  Bulgaria (BUL) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 5 |  Italy (ITA) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
 Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 | |
| 7 |  Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Finland (FIN) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Totals (8 entries) | 6 | 6 | 6 | 18 | |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | Halvard Hanevold  Norway | 56:16.4 | Pieralberto Carrara  Italy | 56:21.9 | Alexei Aidarov  Belarus | 56:46.5 |
| Sprint | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 27:16.2 | Frode Andresen Norway | 28:17.8 | Ville Räikkönen  Finland | 28:21.7 |
| Relay | Germany (GER) Ricco Groß Peter Sendel Sven Fischer Frank Luck | 1:21:36.2 | Norway (NOR) Egil Gjelland Halvard Hanevold Dag Bjørndalen Ole Einar Bjørndalen | 1:21:56.3 | Russia (RUS) Pavel Muslimov Vladimir Drachev Sergei Tarasov Viktor Maigourov | 1:22:19.3 |
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | Ekaterina Dafovska  Bulgaria | 54:52.0 | Olena Petrova  Ukraine | 55:09.8 | Uschi Disl  Germany | 55:17.9 |
| Sprint | Galina Kukleva  Russia | 23:08.0 | Uschi Disl Germany | 23:08.7 | Katrin Apel Germany | 23:32.4 |
| Relay | Germany (GER) Uschi Disl Martina Zellner Katrin Apel Petra Behle | 1:40:13.6 | Russia (RUS) Olga Melnik Galina Kukleva Albina Akhatova Olga Romasko | 1:40:25.2 | Norway (NOR) Ann Elen Skjelbreid Annette Sikveland Gunn Margit Andreassen Liv Grete Skjelbreid | 1:40:37.3 |
Thirty-two nations sent biathletes to compete in the events. Below is a list of the competing nations; in parentheses are the number of national competitors. [1]
Australia (1)
Austria (5) Belarus (9) Bulgaria (5)
Canada (6)
China (4)
Czech Republic (8)
Estonia (4) Finland (7)
France (10)
Great Britain (2) Germany (11)
Greece (1)
Hungary (5) Italy (6)
Japan (8)
Kazakhstan (8)
Kyrgyzstan (1)
South Korea (1)
Latvia (5)
Lithuania (1)
Moldova (2) Norway (9)
Poland (9)
Romania (2) Russia (11)
Slovenia (9)
Switzerland (1)
Slovakia (5)
Sweden (8) Ukraine (10)
United States (9)
The Winter Olympic Games, also known as the Winter Olympics, is a major international multi-sport event held once every four years for sports practiced on snow and ice. The first Winter Olympic Games, the 1924 Winter Olympics, were held in Chamonix, France. The modern Olympic Games were inspired by the ancient Olympic Games, which were held in Olympia, Greece, from 776 BCE to 394 CE. The Baron Pierre de Coubertin of France founded the International Olympic Committee (IOC) 1,500 years later in 1894, leading to the first modern Summer Olympic Games in Athens, Greece in 1896. The IOC is the governing body of the Olympic Movement, with the Olympic Charter defining its structure and authority. The original five Winter Olympic Sports were bobsleigh, curling, ice hockey, Nordic skiing, and skating. The Games were held every four years from 1924 to 1936, interrupted in 1940 and 1944 by World War II, and resumed in 1948. Until 1992, the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games were held in the same year. A decision to change this was made in 1986, when during the 91st International Olympic Committee session, IOC members decided to alternate the Summer Olympic Games and the Winter Olympic Games on separate four-year cycles in even-numbered years. Also, at that same congress it was decided that 1992 Winter Olympics would be the last to be held in the same year as the Summer Games and that to change the rotation, the games that would be held in 1996 would be brought forward by two years, being scheduled to 1994. After those games, the next were to be held in 1998 when the four-year Olympic Cycle resumed.
The 1998 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVIII Olympic Winter Games and commonly known as Nagano 1998, were a winter multi-sport event held from 7 to 22 February 1998, mainly in Nagano, Nagano Prefecture, Japan, with some events taking place in the nearby mountain communities of Hakuba, Karuizawa, Nozawa Onsen, and Yamanouchi. The city of Nagano had previously been a candidate to host the 1940 Winter Olympics, as well as the 1972 Winter Olympics, but had been eliminated at the national level by Sapporo on both occasions.
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