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 first Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The original team event, Team (time), was held for the last time in 1965, to be replaced in 1966 by the team event, Relay, which we know today. 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.
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.
The 1960 Winter Olympics were a winter multi-sport event held from February 18 to 28, 1960, at the Squaw Valley Resort in Squaw Valley, California, United States. The resort was chosen to host the Games at the 1956 meeting of the International Olympic Committee (IOC). Squaw Valley was an undeveloped resort in 1955, so the infrastructure and all of the venues were built between 1956 and 1960 at a cost of US$80,000,000. The layout was designed to be intimate, allowing spectators and competitors to reach most of the venues on foot.
Ricco Groß is a former German biathlete. He is one of the most successful biathletes of all time at the Winter Olympics and the World Championships.
Michael Greis is a former German biathlete.
The Professional Bull Riders, Inc. (PBR) is an international professional bull riding organization headquartered in Pueblo, Colorado, United States. It is the largest bull riding league in the world, sanctioning hundreds of events every year in the United States, Canada, Brazil, and Australia. Over 800 bull riders from said countries, as well as others hold PBR memberships.
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.
Pavel Aleksandrovich Rostovtsev is a Russian former biathlete.
The Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne, commonly known by the acronym UIPM, has been the international governing body of modern pentathlon since its foundation in London in 1948. Its headquarters are in Monte-Carlo, Monaco, and it has 115 national federation members. Modern pentathlon was introduced at the fifth Olympiad in Stockholm, Sweden, in 1912, comprising the contemporary sports of pistol shooting, fencing, swimming, horse riding and running, which embraced the spirit of its ancient counterpart.
Anton Vladimirovich Shipulin is a retired Russian biathlete and politician serving as the member of the State Duma since 2019.
Johannes Thingnes Bø is a Norwegian biathlete. He is the younger brother of biathlete Tarjei Bø. At the Olympic Games in Beijing 2022, they became the first siblings to have individual medals in the same biathlon event. Thingnes Bø has won the Biathlon World Cup in 2018/19, 2019/20, 2020/21, 2022/23 and 2023/24. Thingnes Bø is the second most successful male biathlete of all time in the World Cup with 85 individual World Cup victories, including victories at the Winter Olympic Games.
The tank biathlon is a mechanized military sport event held by the Russian military as a part of the annual International Army Games. Inspired by the winter sport of biathlon, the sport emphasizes the complex training of tank crews including their rough terrain passing skills combined with the ability to provide accurate and rapid fire while performing maneuvers.
Tiril Kampenhaug Eckhoff is a Norwegian former biathlete.
Laura Dahlmeier is a retired German biathlete. Dahlmeier started in her first world cup races in the 2012/13 season. In 2014, she participated in the Winter Olympics in Sochi. She won a record of five gold medals at the World Championships of 2017. In 2018 she became the first woman to win the biathlon sprint and pursuit in the same Olympics. During her career she has won a total of two golds and one bronze at the Olympics, seven gold medals, three silver medals and five bronze medals at World Championships, one overall World Cup and two discipline World Cup titles. Dahlmeier announced her retirement from competition in May 2019, at the age of 25. In October 2019, she released a children's book.
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.
The 17th World Team Challenge 2018 was a biathlon competition, that was held at December 29, 2018, at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The event was visited by 46.412 fans.
The 13th World Team Challenge 2014 was a biathlon competition, that was held at December 27, 2014, at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany. The winners were Valj Semerenko and Serhiy Semenov from Ukraine, and it was second victory for this country after Ukrainian team had won it in 2008.
The 18th World Team Challenge 2019 was a biathlon competition, that was held at December 28, 2019, at the Veltins-Arena in Gelsenkirchen, Germany.
