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.
Ole Einar Bjørndalen is a retired Norwegian professional biathlete and coach, often referred to by the nickname, the "King of Biathlon". With 13 Winter Olympic Games medals, he is second on the list of multiple medalists behind Marit Bjørgen who has won 15 medals. He is also the most successful biathlete of all time at the Biathlon World Championships, having won 45 medals. With 95 World Cup wins, Bjørndalen is ranked first all-time for career victories on the Biathlon World Cup tour. He has won the Overall World Cup title six times, in 1997–98, in 2002–03, in 2004–05, in 2005–06, in 2007–08 and in 2008–09.
Raphaël Poirée is a retired French biathlete who was active from 1995 to 2007. With his 44 World Cup victories and several World Championship medals he ranks among the most successful biathletes ever.
Frode Andresen is a former Norwegian biathlete and cross-country skier.
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.
Stian Kampenhaug Eckhoff is a former Norwegian biathlete. He has 2 World Cup victories and in the 2004–05 season, Eckhoff placed tenth overall. Since his retirement he has become involved in coaching the Norwegian national biathlon team, and was appointed head coach of the Norwegian women's biathlon programme ahead of the 2014–15 season. He is the brother of fellow biathlete Tiril Eckhoff.
Egil Gjelland is a former Norwegian biathlete. He is olympic champion in the biathlon relay from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
Odd Lirhus is a former Norwegian biathlete. At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo he won a silver medal in the relay. He also won a gold medal in the 20 km individual at the 1978 Biathlon World Championship. In addition, he won the 20 km individual in Falun in the 1983–84 season.
Olav Jordet is a former Norwegian biathlete who was born in Tolga. He became Norway's first individual biathlon world champion in 1965, has world championship relay gold medals in 1966 and 1967. He won a bronze medal in the 20 km at the 1964 Olympics in Innsbruck, and was a part of the Norwegian relay team that won a silver medal in Grenoble 1968. He has many Norwegian titles in biathlon and skiing area shooting.
Tora Berger is a retired Norwegian biathlete and Olympic champion.
Dmitry Vladimirovich Vasilyev is a former Russian biathlete. At the 1984 Winter Olympics in Sarajevo, Vasilyev won a gold medal with the Soviet relay team, which consisted of himself, Juri Kashkarov, Algimantas Šalna and Sergei Bulygin. He received another relay gold medal at the 1988 Winter Olympics in Calgary.
Tiril Kampenhaug Eckhoff is a Norwegian former biathlete.
Nathan Smith is a Canadian biathlete.
Marte Olsbu Røiseland is a former Norwegian biathlete and 3 time Winter Olympic gold medalist. In addition, she won two Olympic silver medals and two bronze medals. Her world championships achievements include winning two gold medals and eleven relay victories. She won the overall Biathlon World Cup in 2022.
Erlend Øvereng Bjøntegaard is a retired Norwegian biathlete. He has competed in the Biathlon World Cup, and represented Norway at the Biathlon World Championships 2016. Bjøntegaard represents the club IL Bevern in a remote part of Kongsberg.
The 2018–19 Biathlon World Cup – Stage 1 was the opening event of the season and was held in Pokljuka, Slovenia, from 2–9 December 2018.
Knotten is a surname. Notable people with the surname include:
Vebjørn Sørum is a Norwegian biathlete. He has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2023.
Marthe Kråkstad Johansen is a Norwegian biathlete. She has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2022.
Ragnhild Femsteinevik is a Norwegian biathlete.
