The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race where the contestant with the shortest total time wins. 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 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 BWCHs. 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 history of Norway has been influenced to an extraordinary degree by the terrain and the climate of the region. About 10,000 BC, following the retreat of the great inland ice sheets, the earliest inhabitants migrated north into the territory which is now Norway. They traveled steadily northwards along the coastal areas, warmed by the Gulf Stream, where life was more bearable. In order to survive they fished and hunted reindeer. Between 5,000 BC and 4,000 BC the earliest agricultural settlements appeared around the Oslofjord. Gradually, between 1500 BC and 500 BC, these agricultural settlements spread into the southern areas of Norway – whilst the inhabitants of the northern regions continued to hunt and fish.
Veikko Johannes Hakulinen was a Finnish cross country skier, triple champion in both the Olympics and world championships. He also competed in biathlon, orienteering, ski-orienteering, cross-country running and rowing at a national level.
Mark Kirchner is a German former biathlete.
Halvard Hanevold was a Norwegian biathlete.
Carl Johan Bergman is a former Swedish biathlete. He lives in Lillehammer, Norway with his Norwegian wife, Liv Kjersti Eikeland. He is 5 ft 8½ in (174 cm), and weighs 152 lb (69 kg; 10 st 12 lb).
Mikael Löfgren is a former Swedish biathlete. He became the Junior World Champion in 1986, aged 17. At the 1992 Olympics in Albertville, France he won two bronze medals, one in the 4 × 7.5 km relay and one in the 20 km individual. His teammates with the Swedish relay team were Ulf Johansson, Tord Wiksten, and Leif Andersson. The next season, he won the overall Biathlon World Cup.
Björn Ferry is a former Swedish biathlete and medal winning Olympian. He began competing internationally in World Cup competitions in 2001, but did not win his first international race until the 2007–2008 season. In 2007, he won gold in the mixed relay event at the Biathlon World Championships. The next year, at his third Winter Olympics appearance, he won the gold medal in the pursuit event. He started the event in 8th place as determined by the previous sprint event, but managed to overtake the race leader on the final lap.
Thorsten is a Scandinavian given name. The Old Norse name was Þórsteinn. It is a compound of the theonym Thor and sten "stone".
Tarjei Bø is a Norwegian professional biathlete. Bø debuted in the Biathlon World Cup on 26 March 2009 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia, and won his first World Cup victory on 10 December 2010. 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 sprint race in Hochfilzen, earning 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.
Fredrik Lindström is a Swedish former biathlete. His debut in the Biathlon World Cup took place on 12 December 2008 in Hochfilzen, where he ended up in 47th place.
Vladimir Iliev ; born 17 March 1987) is a Bulgarian biathlete.
Nathan Smith is a Canadian biathlete.
The 2015–16 Biathlon World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season of biathlon, organised by the International Biathlon Union. The season began on 29 November 2015 in Östersund, Sweden, and ended on 19 March 2016 in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia. The defending overall champions from the 2014–15 Biathlon World Cup were Martin Fourcade of France and Darya Domracheva of Belarus, but Domracheva missed the season due to illness.
Linn Persson is a Swedish female biathlete. Born in Torsby, she has competed in the World Cup, and represented Sweden at the 2016 World Championships.
Peppe Femling is a Swedish biathlete. He has competed in the Biathlon World Cup, and represented Sweden at the Biathlon World Championships 2016.
Jesper Nelin is a Swedish biathlete. He competed in the World Cup, and represented Sweden during the 2016 World Championships in Oslo, Norway.
The 2016–17 Biathlon World Cup (BWC) was a multi-race tournament over a season of biathlon, organised by the International Biathlon Union. The season started on 27 November 2016 in Östersund, Sweden and ended on 19 March 2017 in Holmenkollen, Norway. The defending overall champions from the 2015–16 Biathlon World Cup were Martin Fourcade of France and Gabriela Koukalová of the Czech Republic.
Hanna Öberg is a Swedish female biathlete. In 2017 she won the IBU Female Rookie of the Year Award for her World Cup debut season, with the male counterpart being awarded to her fellow Swede Sebastian Samuelsson. At the Pyeongchang 2018 Winter Olympics she won a surprising gold in the Individual, after four clean shootings. It was both the first victory and podium of her career, with her previous best being a fifth place in the world cup. She also claimed silver in the Relay, finished seventh in sprint, and fifth in both the mass start and the pursuit. Öberg repeated her Olympic success at the 2019 Biathlon World Championships on home snow in Östersund, where she again won the individual with a perfect shoot, having previously finished fourth in the sprint and fifth in the pursuit. She became the first female biathlete to win the individual World Championship title the year after taking the Olympic individual gold.
