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.
The Fédération internationale de ski et de snowboard is the highest international governing body for skiing and snowboarding. Founded on 2 February 1924 in Chamonix, France during the inaugural Winter Olympic Games, the FIS is responsible for the Olympic disciplines of Alpine skiing, cross-country skiing, ski jumping, Nordic combined, freestyle skiing, and snowboarding. The FIS is also responsible for setting the international competition rules. The organization has a membership of 132 national ski associations, and is based in Oberhofen am Thunersee, Switzerland. It changed its name to include snowboard in 2022.
Örnsköldsvik is a locality and the seat of Örnsköldsvik Municipality in Västernorrland County, Sweden, with 32,953 inhabitants in 2017.
Östersund is an urban area (city) in Jämtland in the middle of Sweden. It is the seat of Östersund Municipality and the capital of Jämtland County. Östersund is located at the shores of Sweden's fifth largest lake, Storsjön, opposite the island Frösön. It is the only city in Jämtland. The northern part of the urban area is located inside of the municipality of Krokom.
Åre is a locality and one of the leading Scandinavian ski resorts situated in Åre Municipality, Jämtland County, Sweden with 3,200 inhabitants in 2018. It is, however, not the seat of the municipality, which is Järpen. 25% of the municipal industry is based on tourism, most notably the downhill skiing and biking resorts in Åre, Duved and Storlien. The growth in tourism has resulted in the development of hotels, recreational and shopping opportunities in the area.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships is a biennial nordic skiing event organized by the International Ski Federation (FIS). The World Championships was started in 1925 for men and opened for women's participation in 1954. World Championship events include nordic skiing's three disciplines: cross-country skiing, ski jumping, and nordic combined. From 1924 to 1939, the World Championships were held every year, including the Winter Olympics. After World War II, the World Championships were held every four years from 1950 to 1982. Since 1985, the World Championships have been held in odd-numbered years.
Oddbjørn Hagen was a Norwegian skier who competed in nordic combined and cross-country skiing. He was both Olympic and World champion.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1954 took place 13-21 February 1954 in Falun, Sweden. These were the first races where women competed with events in the 10 km and 3 × 5 km relay. It also saw the 18 km reduced to 15 km in men's cross-country along with the return of the 30 km which was last held in 1926. The Nordic combined saw the ski jump held first with the cross-country distance reduced to 15 km as well. The Soviet Union also debuted in these championships as well.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 1993 took place 19–28 February 1993 in Falun, Sweden, for the third time. This event saw the creation of the combined pursuit where competitors would skate one distance in the classical interval style one day, then follow the next day in the freestyle pursuit with the first distance winner going first in the pursuit. Additionally it was the first competition since the breakup of the Soviet Union in late 1991 and the first competition with Czechoslovakia having been split up as the Czech Republic and Slovakia, however, the two nations competed as combined teams in women's relay in cross-country skiing and team large hill in ski jumping.
The FIS Nordic World Ski Championships 2007 took place 22 February – 4 March 2007 in Sapporo, Japan. It was the second time this city has hosted these championships, having previously done so in the 1972 Winter Olympics. Sapporo was selected as venue by vote at the 43rd FIS World Congress in Portorož, Slovenia, on 6 June 2002. It also marked the third time the championships were hosted outside Europe in a year that did not coincide with the Winter Olympics; it was the first championship held in Asia. The ski jumping team normal hill event was not held, as it had been in 2005.
Lars Håland is a former Swedish cross-country skier who competed from 1986 to 1999. He won two medals at the 1989 FIS Nordic World Ski Championships, with a gold in the 4 × 10 km relay, and a bronze in the 15 km freestyle. Håland also earned his only World Cup victory at Falun, Sweden in 1989.
Jason Lamy-Chappuis is a Franco-American former ski jumper and cross-country skier who has represented France in Nordic combined ski events between 2002 and 2015, then in the 2017-18 season.
Peter Graves is an American television sportscaster and public address announcer specializing in Olympic, lifestyle, and action sports. He is also a former cross-country skiing coach for Harvard University.
Lugnet is a large sport complex located in Falun, Sweden. 58 of the Swedish Sports Confederation's 67 special sports can be practiced there. There are six full sized indoor pitches in the area where everything from dance to association football can be played or performed. There are also two swimming pools, a tennis hall, an athletics arena, an ice arena including one indoor ice hockey rink, an outdoor ice hockey rink, a bandy field and a curling hall. Lugnet is also Sweden's national cross-country skiing and ski jumping centre and often hosts one part of the FIS Cross-Country World Cup. Several FIS Nordic World Ski Championships have been organised here. The latest one in 2015.
Johannes Rydzek is a German nordic combined skier who has competed since 2006.
For the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley, California, in the United States, a total of five sports venues were used. Except for the Palisades Tahoe, all of the venues had to be constructed. For the first time in Winter Olympic history, a temporary venue was constructed at McKinney Creek for biathlon, cross-country skiing, and Nordic combined. A bobsleigh track was not constructed over the guarantees from the FIBT not being able to field the minimum twelve teams needed to compete, making it the only time bobsleigh has not been included in the Winter Olympics.
The 1991–92 FIS Ski Jumping World Cup was the 13th World Cup season in ski jumping and the 2nd official World Cup season in ski flying. It began in Thunder Bay, Canada on 1 December 1991 and finished in Planica, Slovenia on 29 March 1992. The individual World Cup was won by Toni Nieminen and Nations Cup by Austria.
The Swedish Cross-Country Skiing Championships were first held in Härnösand in 1910. and originally only featured men's competitions. before women's competitions were introduced in 1917.
Olof “Olle” Alfred Rimfors was a Swedish ski pioneer, ski instructor, military officer, and sports official. In 1934 he introduced alpine skiing in Sweden together with Sigge Bergman, after studying for a month at the ski school of Hannes Schneider in St. Anton am Arlberg and competing in the FIS Alpine World Championships.
