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 Biathlon World Cup is a top-level biathlon season-long competition series. It has been held since the winter seasons of 1977–78 for men and 1982–83 for women. The women's seasons until 1986–87 season were called the European Cup, although participation was not restricted to Europeans.
Lars Berger is a former Norwegian biathlete and cross-country skier.
Eirik Kvalfoss is a Norwegian retired biathlete.
Halvard Hanevold was a Norwegian biathlete.
Sergei Vladimirovich Tchepikov is a Russian politician and a former Soviet-Russian biathlete and cross-country skier who competed at six Winter Olympics, five in biathlon and one in cross-country skiing (1998). His last Olympic performance was a silver medal in the 4 × 7.5 km relay at the 2006 Winter Olympics in Turin.
Alexander Ivanovich Tikhonov is a former Soviet-Russian biathlete. On 23 July 2007, he was found guilty of conspiracy to commit murder and sentenced to three years of imprisonment, but he was amnestied immediately and did not spend any time in prison.
Egil Gjelland is a former Norwegian biathlete. He is olympic champion in the biathlon relay from the 2002 Winter Olympics in Salt Lake City.
The International Biathlon Union is the international governing body of biathlon. Its headquarters were in Salzburg, Austria, until May 2020, when the Federation moved to Anif, on the outskirts of the city. It was rocked by a corruption scandal that broke in 2018, concerning the Russians bribing its top two officials. In 2022, due to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, Russia and Belarus, as invading nations, were suspended from all international biathlon competitions until further notice.
Jon Åge Tyldum is a former Norwegian biathlete. He won the overall World Cup in 1992 and 1995. At the World Championships he has won seven medals. In 1998 he retired from the sport.
Ivan Yuryevich Tcherezov is a former Russian biathlete. He announced his retirement from biathlon at the end of the 2015–16 season.
Svetlana Yuryevna Sleptsova is a retired Russian biathlete. She is a member of the club CSKA. She is a three-time Junior World Champion and won the bronze medal in the mixed relay at the 2008 World Championships in Östersund. In 2009, she was part of the gold medal winning Russian women's relay team at the World Championships in Pyeongchang. Sleptsova is an Olympic champion in relay at Vancouver.
Dominik Landertinger is a retired Austrian biathlete.
Simon Schempp is a German former biathlete.
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.
Fanny Horn Birkeland is a Norwegian former biathlete. She competed at the Biathlon World Championships 2011, where she placed sixth in the relay with the Norwegian team. In January 2015, she won her first race in the 7.5 km sprint in Ruhpolding, Germany.
Tiril Kampenhaug Eckhoff is a Norwegian former biathlete.
Franziska Preuß is a German biathlete. She debuted in the World Cup races in the 2013–14. Preuß represented Germany at the 2014, 2018 and 2022 Winter Olympics. Her greatest achievements are winning a gold medal with the German relay team at the Biathlon World Championships 2015, winning a discipline title in Mass start in the 2014–15 and 3rd place in the overall classification in the 2020–21 season.
Philipp Nawrath is a German biathlete. He competed at the Biathlon World Championships 2019.
Karoline Offigstad Knotten is a Norwegian biathlete. She has competed in the Biathlon World Cup since 2018, and represented Norway at the Biathlon World Championships 2020 and the 2022 Winter Olympics.
