Biathlon at the Olympics

Biathlon has beenpart of the program of the Olympic Winter Games since the 1960 Winter Olympics . The competitions are held for both men and women. At the first Olympic Winter Games in Chamonix, a military patrol race was held as a competition. The military patrol run was thenorganized as a demonstration competition in 1928 , 1936 and 1948 . The military patrol is now seen as the forerunner of biathlon.

history

Men's mass start 2010

After the men's 20-kilometer run, the next biathlon competitions were Olympic in 1968 with the 4 × 7.5-kilometer relay and in 1980 with the sprint competition. At the 1992 Winter Olympics , women's biathlon competitions were held for the first time. With the start of the pursuit run at the Games in 2002 and the mass start in 2006 , five disciplines each for women and men are currently being held. In addition, the mixed relay has been held since the 2014 Games , in which two men and women from one nation form a relay. For disciplines that have already been played in the World Cup and / or Biathlon World Championships but have not yet been included in the competition program of the Olympic Games, there have been separate world championships for these disciplines in the past, which were usually held as part of a World Cup . This was most recently the case at the 2010 Biathlon Mixed Relay World Championship in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia .

Regulations

For the Olympic Games, the regulations of the Biathlon Umbrella Association (IBU) apply, provided there are no changes by the IOC.

qualification

As with biathlon world championships , athletes must qualify for participation in the Olympic Games using the IBU's qualification point system.

The filling of the starting and quota places for the world championships is made by the national associations. As in the case of world championships, the German Ski Association requires a result in a single race of the current season among the best eight or two races among the best 15 starters as the basis for a nomination for each athlete.

Starting odds

As with the Biathlon World Championships, there are starting quotas for the Olympic Games for the participating nations that differ from the starting quotas in the Biathlon World Cup . The basis for the allocation of quotas is the placement of the respective nation in the Nations Cup ranking of the previous season of the World Cup. Of the registered athletes, who are also allowed to be on site at the competitions, the respective nation occupies the available quota places.

The country hosting the Olympic Games may enter one athlete or one team for each sprint, individual race and relay regardless of the starting quota and qualification criteria. However, these athletes are counted towards an existing starting quota in the country.

In addition, a total of six wildcards can be awarded, but not more than two per nation.

Unlike the World Championships, there is no individual right to start for gold medal winners of the last Olympic Games.

Maximum number of starting places per national association at the Olympic Games
Placement in the Nations Cup	1-5	6-20	21-22
enrollment	6th	5	2
Number of starting places	4th	4th	2

Competitions

• = official competition , D = held as a demonstration

discipline		24	28	32	36	48	52	56	60	64	68	72	76	80	84	88	92	94	98	02	06	10	14th	18th	total
Men	Military patrol	•	D.		D.	D.																			1
	Individual race (20 km)								•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	16
	Relay (4 × 7.5 km)										•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	14th
	Sprint (10 km)													•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	11
	Pursuit (12.5 km)																			•	•	•	•	•	5
	Mass start (15 km)																				•	•	•	•	4th
Women	Individual race (15 km)																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	8th
	Season 1																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	8th
	Sprint (7.5 km)																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	8th
	Pursuit (10 km)																			•	•	•	•	•	5
	Mass start (12.5 km)																				•	•	•	•	4th
Mixed	Relay (2 × 6 + 2 × 7.5 km)																						•	•	2
	total	1	0	0	0	0	0	0	1	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	6th	6th	6th	8th	10	10	11	11	86

1 = at the 1992 Olympics: 3 × 7.5 km, from 1994 to 2002: 4 × 7.5 km, since 2006: 4 × 6 km

Olympic gold as a goal

Magdalena Neuner at the 2010 Winter Games in Vancouver

As with many other sports, winning an Olympic gold medal in biathlon is one of the greatest successes an athlete can achieve in this sport. While the Alpine or Nordic World Championships only take place every two years, in biathlon - with the exception of the years in which the Olympic Games take place - title fights take place every year. This gives the Olympic Games, which are only held every four years, a special place.

It is noticeable, however, that not all Olympic champions necessarily belong to the athletes who have been successful at World Championships or in the World Cup for a long time. For example, the French Florence Baverel-Robert achieved the only victory of her career in 2006 in the Olympic sprint race.

Conversely, some otherwise very successful biathletes have tried in vain to win Olympic gold. These athletes include, for example, the Frenchman Raphaël Poirée , his Norwegian wife Liv Grete Poirée and the Swede Magdalena Forsberg . As an eight-time world champion and four-time overall World Cup winner, Raphaël Poirée never achieved the goal of winning an Olympic gold medal at three Winter Olympics. This was achieved in 2006 by his compatriot Vincent Defrasne , who was otherwise always in the shadow of Poirée in terms of success. Magdalena Forsberg was also unable to win an Olympic race as a six-time overall World Cup winner and six-time world champion. Although she won two bronze medals in 2002 , she did not achieve the desired goal of a gold medal either. The Finn Kaisa Mäkäräinen , who won the overall World Cup three times, never reached the medal ranks at the Olympic Games.

The most successful athletes

Ole Einar Bjørndalen

The most successful biathlete at the Olympic Winter Games is the Norwegian Ole Einar Bjørndalen , who was eight times Olympic champion, four of them in 2002 in Salt Lake City. Bjørndalen holds the records of total gold medals won (eight), individual gold medals (five), total medals won (eight gold, four silver and one bronze medal) and total individual medals won (five gold, three silver, one bronze medal). The German Ricco Groß and the Russian Alexander Tichonow won four relay golds . Sven Fischer also achieved four Olympic gold medals , who triumphed in 2006 alongside three relay gold medals in the sprint competition. Other multiple German Olympic champions are Mark Kirchner and Michael Greis , each with three, and Frank Luck and Frank-Peter Roetsch , each with two gold medals.

Darja Domratschawa at the World Cup in Oberhof in January 2018

The most successful biathlete at the Olympic Winter Games is Darja Domratschawa with four gold, one silver and one bronze medals, followed by Kati Wilhelm with three gold, three silver and one bronze medals and Anastasiya Kuzmina with three gold and silver medals each. A total of twelve athletes won two gold medals. Uschi Disl won most of the Olympic medals with two gold, four silver and three bronze medals.

Eternal medal table

rank	country				Total
1	Russian Federation (of which Soviet Union ) (of which United Team    )	21 (9) (2)	13 (5) (2)	15 (5) (2)	49 (19) (6)
2	Germany (thereof GDR ) (thereof BR Germany    )	20 (3) (1)	26 (4) (2)	15 (4) (2)	61 (11) (5)
3	Norway	15th	12	8th	35
4th	France	6th	5	9	20th
5	Belarus	3	2	3	8th
6th	Sweden	3	1	6th	10
7th	Slovakia	2	1	1	4th
8th	Canada	2	0	1	3
9	Ukraine	1	1	3	5
10	Bulgaria	1	0	1	2
11	Finland	0	4th	2	6th
12	Austria	0	3	2	5
13	Italy	0	1	5	6th
14th	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	1
	Poland	0	1	0	1
16	Croatia	0	0	1	1
	Slovenia	0	0	1	1

→ Main article : List of Olympic champions in biathlon