For pure tension, there are few sports that can compete with biathlon which combines the gruelling endurance of cross-country skiing with the dead-eye precision of rifle shooting.
Borne out of the military tradition, it was previously known as military patrol and is particularly popular in Scandinavia, Germany and France.
At Milano Cortina 2026, it will be held at the South Tyrol Arena in Rasen-Antholz, in the Cortina d’Ampezzo cluster.
When did biathlon join the Olympics?
An ancestor of biathlon, military patrol featured at the Games in 1924, 1928, 1936 and 1948, with medals distributed at the first of those, while it was a demonstration sport at the rest.
Biathlon truly joined the party in 1960, initially with a single gold medal up for grabs in the men’s individual event.
A men’s relay followed in 1968, and then a sprint race was introduced in 1980.
The first women’s biathlon medals were awarded in 1992 in Albertville, with both men and women contesting the pursuit from 2002.
In 2006, the mass start was added to the programme with the latest new addition the mixed relay, which was first contested in 2014 in Sochi.
How does biathlon work?
The basic concept of biathlon is simple. Competitors ski a series of laps on a cross-country trail, stopping at a shooting range where they use a rifle which they carry with them throughout to aim at a target 50m away.
On each trip to the shooting range, they aim for five targets, either in the prone position – lying down – or the standing position. When shooting from the prone position, they have to hit the inner ring of a small target, with a diameter of 45mm, while in the standing position, they have a target of 115m at which to aim.
Any miss at the range results in a penalty, which varies according to the type of race, with the race decided either by which contestant has the fastest time, or the first to cross the line, again dependent on the event.
What biathlon events are at the Olympics?
There are 11 biathlon events at Milano Cortina 2026, with five events each for men and women, and one mixed relay.
These include:
Individual: The men race over 20km and the women over 15km in the oldest biathlon event. Raced over five laps, they have to complete four shooting stages, in the order prone, standing, prone, standing, and have a minute added to their time for every missed target. Held as a time trial, competitors set off at regular intervals.
Sprint: The sprint is raced over 10km for the men and 7.5km for the women, this time over three laps with two trips to the shooting range, one prone and one standing. For every miss, the competitors must complete a 150m lap of the penalty loop. As with the individual, this is raced as a time trial.
Pursuit: The follow-up to the sprint, this is raced over 12.5km by the men and 10km by the women with four trips to the shooting range – this time starting with the two prone shoots, followed by the two standing shoots. Competitors set off in the order they finished in the sprint, with the intervals matching the time difference over the line. Unlike the individual and the sprint events, the first over the line is crowned the champion.
Mass start: Arguably the most thrilling of all the races, the mass start sees all 30 competitors start together, with the men racing over 15km and the women over 12.5km. They complete five laps with four trips to the shooting range in the order prone, prone, standing, standing. Every miss means a trip to the penalty loop, and lead changes are common throughout, with the race often decided by the final shot on the last trip to the range. As with the pursuit, the first person across the line is crowned champion.
The relays: There are three relays at the Olympics, the men’s relay, in which the four competitors race 7.5km, the women’s relay, with each leg 6km, which is also the length of the legs in the mixed relays, which sees two women and two men compete. Each competitor goes to the shooting range twice, for one prone shoot and one standing. The main difference with the individual events is that each competitor has eight rounds available to clear five targets. But the last three must be loaded manually, one at a time, after each miss. Anyone who has not cleared all the targets when their extra rounds run out, must complete a penalty loop for every remaining target.
Which nations have historically dominated biathlon?
Norway lead the way as the most successful biathlon nation with 55 Olympic medals in all, 22 of which are gold.
That is one better in both tallies than Germany, while France lie third with 32 medals, including 12 golds.
The legendary Ole Einar Bjørndalen is the most successful biathlete at the Winter Olympic Games, winning 13 medals including eight golds, the equal most of any Winter Olympian ever.
His now wife, Darya Domracheva, of Belarus, is the most successful female biathlete with six medals, including four golds, while France’s Martin Fourcade, is level with Bjorndalen with five golds in individual events.
What is Team GB's history in biathlon?
Biathlon has not really taken off in the UK in the same way as in other countries, with 2022 marking the first time that Team GB did not have a competitor in any event.
Amanda Lightfoot, who competed in both Sochi and PyeongChang is the most recent competitor for Team GB, while Mike Dixon is widely regarded as Britain’s greatest biathlete.
He competed at six Olympic Winter Games, the first in cross-country and the latter five in biathlon, the last of which came in 2002.
Dixon finished 13th in the individual event in Calgary in 1988, before going one better four years later in Albertville.
Keith Oliver has the best-ever result by a British biathlete, finishing 11th in the individual event in 1972 in Sapporo.
Sportsbeat 2026