Biathlon World Cup venues

Since 1977 there have been over fifty different biathlon world cup venues .

development

In the early years, the venues changed often, only Antholz and Ruhpolding were already then and are still regular hosts of World Cup races. In the 1970s and 1980s, military infrastructure was still often used for biathlon races, especially because many cross-country skiing stadiums at that time did not have a suitable shooting range. After the conversion to a smaller caliber and standardized requirements of the world association for the organizers, the number of venues fell sharply. Today there are a dozen or so places that regularly host World Cup races.

See also : List of biathlon courses

Venues until 1990

In the early years of the Biathlon World Cup, the events did not follow a fixed pattern as they do today. The interest of the audience in this still quite young winter sport was initially limited, which is why many places were able to organize races as part of the World Cup. At that time, a shooting range , a cross-country ski run and a little space for spectators, the organizing committee and the competition management were sufficient . At that time, however, Ruhpolding and Antholz were already an integral part of the competition calendar. Many other World Cups were held in Norway , Sweden and Finland , where biathlon was already very popular at that time.

country	place	77/78	78/79	79/80	80/81	81/82	82/83	83/84	84/85	85/86	86/87	87/88	88/89	89/90
France	Albertville												●
Italy	Antholz	●	●	●	●	●	WM		●	●	●	●		●
Norway	Bardufoss		●
Sweden	ground									●
Bulgaria	Borovets										●		●
Canada	Canmore										●
Switzerland	Egg am Etzel					●
Sweden	Falun							●
Austria	Feistritz on the Drau									●
Finland	Hämeenlinna												●
Sweden	Hedenäset			●	●
Austria	Hochfilzen	WM									●	●
Czechoslovakia	Jáchymov		●		●
Finland	Jyväskylä											●
Finland	Kontiolahti													●
Finland	Lahti			●	WM	●	●		●
Norway	Lillehammer										●
Belarusian SSR	Minsk-Raubitschy					WM								WM
Soviet Union	Murmansk	●		●
GDR	Oberhof							●	●
Austria	Obertauern										●			●
Norway	Oslo						●	●	●			●		●
Sweden	Ostersund												●
Switzerland	Pontresina							●
Germany	Ruhpolding	●	WM	●	●	●	●	●			●	●	●	●
Finland	Sodankylä	●	●
Norway	Steinkjer												●
Austria	Walchsee													●

Postponed competitions

In the 1982/83 season the competitions could not take place in Oberhof due to lack of snow. These were then relocated to Antholz, where the World Championships took place a week later .

The races of the 1990 World Championships were largely rescheduled in Oslo, as there was not enough snow in Minsk. The men's relay could not be ended in Oslo due to fog and was rescheduled in Kontiolahti.

Venues until 2000

By the turn of the millennium , the competition calendar changed in some details. There were no more competitions in Switzerland and the number of different venues was also reduced in countries such as Austria , Norway , Sweden and Finland . Other countries such as the United States in Lake Placid , Slovakia in Brezno - Osrblie and Slovenia on the Pokljuka plateau near Bled organized several World Cups. Pokljuka is an integral part of the competition calendar to this day.

Furthermore, in the year before the biathlon world championships or the Olympic winter games, world cup races were held at the future venue. Most major events were not part of the World Cup until the mid-1990s, so the results were not included in the World Cup rankings.

country	place	90/91	91/92	92/93	93/94	94/95	95/96	96/97	97/98	98/99	99/00
France	Albertville	●
Italy	Antholz	●	●	●	●	WM	●	●	●	●	●
Austria	Bad Gastein				●	●
Slovakia	Brezno - Osrblie						●	WM		●	●
Canada	Canmore	●			●
Russia	Khanty-Mansiysk										●
Norway	Fagernes		●
Canada	Hinton				●
Austria	Hochfilzen		●				●		●	●	●
Finland	Kontiolahti			●					●	WM
Finland	Lahti					●					●
United States	Lake Placid									●
Norway	Lillehammer			●		●		●	●
Japan	Nagano							●	OWG
/ Russia	Novosibirsk		●					●
Germany	Oberhof	●		●		●		●		●	●
Norway	Oslo	●	●				●	●		●	WM
Sweden	Ostersund			●			●	●	●		●
Slovenia	Pokljuka			●	●		●		●		●
Italy	Ridanna			●
Germany	Ruhpolding	●	●		●	●	WM	●	●	●	●
Canada	Valcartier									●

Postponed competitions

In the 1994/95 season the competitions planned for Pokljuka were organized in Bad Gastein due to the lack of snow. The World Cup kick-off took place in Bad Gastein the week before.

Due to very low temperatures down to -25 ° C, in Kontiolahti, could 1999 not a world champion in individual and mass start are determined in Kontiolahti. The world championship races were made up in Oslo.

The men's relay race during the 2000 World Championships in Oslo was canceled due to fog and was rescheduled in Lahti.

Venues until 2010

From the turn of the millennium , the number of venues continued to decrease. Trondheim and Beitostølen were the last places, with the exception of the hosts of the Winter Olympics , which only held one World Cup over a longer period of time. Several other locations also disappeared from the competition calendar during these ten years. This included the traditional events in Lahti , Lake Placid and Brezno - Osrblie , which have not hosted a World Cup until today. Many other locations that currently hold annual World Cups have established themselves during this time. However, the rule was retained that in the year before the Biathlon World Championships and the Olympic Winter Games, a World Cup is generally held on the routes that are then also used for the competitions of the major events. The only exception to this was the 2003 biathlon world championships in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia .

country	place	00/01	01/02	02/03	03/04	04/05	05/06	06/07	07/08	08/09	09/10
Italy	Antholz	●	●	●	●	●	●	WM	●	●	●
Norway	Beitostølen					●
Slovakia	Brezno - Osrblie		●	●	●		●
Russia	Khanty-Mansiysk			WM		●		●	●	●	●
United States	Fort Kent				●
Austria	Hochfilzen		●		●	WM	●	●	●	●	●
Finland	Kontiolahti				●		●		●		●
Finland	Lahti		●	●				●
United States	Lake Placid	●			●
Germany	Oberhof	●	●	●	WM	●	●	●	●	●	●
Norway	Oslo	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●
Sweden	Ostersund		●	●		●	●	●	WM	●	●
Slovenia	Pokljuka	WM	●	●	●	●	●	●	●		●
South Korea	Pyeongchang								●	WM
Germany	Ruhpolding	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
United States	Salt Lake City	●	OWG
Norway	Trondheim									●
Italy	Turin  /  Cesana					●	OWG
Canada	Vancouver									●	OWG

Postponed competitions

In the 2000/01 season the competitions planned for December in Hochfilzen, Pokljuka and Osrblie could not take place due to lack of snow. Antholz acted as a substitute organizer for all three locations, so Antholz hosted three World Cups in a row, with the competitions scheduled for January, Antholz held four World Cups in one season.

Due to the very mild winter in the 2006/07 season , almost all of the venues had difficulties to provide enough snow. But only the competitions in Osrblie had to be moved to Hochfilzen. As a result, Hochfilzen hosted two World Cups in a row.

Since the construction work for the new biathlon stadium on the Pokljuka could not be finished in time in the 2008/09 season , the competitions took place in Hochfilzen, as in the week before.

The following season there were similar problems as the year before. This time the stadium in Osrblie was not ready on time, so the competitions were moved to the Pokljuka plateau. There shouldn't be any competitions on the Pokljuka this season.

Venues until 2020

The venues for biathlon world cups have hardly changed since 2010 and generally follow a fixed pattern. It starts with three World Cups between the end of November and Christmas. Östersund in Sweden is usually the first venue, as the location in the north offers a fairly high level of snow reliability. Hochfilzen is regularly the second winter venue, Pokljuka , Nové Město na Moravě or Annecy  /  Le Grand-Bornand complete the competition calendar. After the turn of the year, Oberhof , Ruhpolding and Antholz will follow . There are only deviations from these three World Cups if one of these locations is the host of the Biathlon World Championships or if, as in 2015/16 in Oberhof, the snow situation prevents the competitions. The last third of the World Cup and the World Championships follow after a break from competition. Kontiolahti , Oslo and Khanty-Mansiysk were usually the last competitions of the winter. However, Kontiolahti was not in the calendar every year, this World Cup was often held where the World Championships or the Olympic Games took place in the following year , such as B. in the season 2012/13 in Sochi . In the winter of 2015/16 , after a long break, competitions were again awarded to North America . The Canadian Canmore , where the 1988 Winter Games were held, and the US Presque Isle , where the Biathlon World Cup has never stopped, were the venues. From the 2016/17 season , Tyumen was to replace the second Russian venue, Khanty-Mansiysk, for a longer period in the competition calendar. After the doping revelations in the second McLaren Report , the Russian Biathlon Association decided not to host the competitions in March 2017, and the IBU then awarded the competitions to Kontiolahti. In winter 2017/18 the last World Cup race in Russia took place in Tyumen. For the 2018/19 season , no more competitions were awarded to Russia at the IBU's 132nd Executive Board Meeting .

country	place	10/11	11/12	12/13	13/14	14/15	15/16	16/17	17/18	18/19	19/20
France	Annecy  /  Le Grand-Bornand				●				●		●
Italy	Antholz	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	WM
Canada	Canmore						●			●
Russia	Khanty-Mansiysk	WM	●	●		●	●
United States	Fort Kent	●
Austria	Hochfilzen	●	●	●	●	●	●	WM	●	●	●
Finland	Kontiolahti		●		●	WM		●	●		●
Czech Republic	Nové Město		●	WM		●		●		●	●
Germany	Oberhof	●	●	●	●	●		●	●	●	●
Norway	Oslo	●	●	●	●	●	WM	●	●	●
Sweden	Ostersund	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	WM	●
Slovenia	Pokljuka	●		●	●	●	●	●		●	●
United States	Presque Isle	●					●
South Korea	Pyeongchang							●
Germany	Ruhpolding	●	WM	●	●	●	●	●	●	●	●
United States	Salt Lake City									●
Russia	Sochi			●	OWG 1
Russia	Tyumen								●

¹The mixed relay held in Sochi was part of the mixed relay ranking, but not the national ranking. The other races of the Olympic Games did not count towards the World Cup .

Postponed and canceled competitions

Due to a lack of snow, the competitions that were to take place in Annecy-Le Grand-Bornand were held in Hochfilzen in the 2011/12 season. The World Cup races took place there the week before.

In the 2015/16 season , the competitions originally planned for Oberhof were moved to Ruhpolding at short notice due to lack of snow. In addition to enough snow, there was also the necessary infrastructure to take over the Oberhof event a week before the own World Cup.

In the 2016/17 season , the Russian biathlon association voluntarily returned the competitions planned for Tyumen to the IBU, based on the findings of the second McLaren report . These were then given to Kontiolahti in Finland.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic , the competitions at the end of the season in Oslo were canceled without replacement in the 2019/20 season .

conditions

The IBU defines the requirements for the organizers for hosting Biathlon World Cups in the OC Guidelines . There it is clearly regulated what an organizer must provide in terms of prize money, free accommodation, organizational staff, helpers and, above all, buildings. While shooting ranges and trails suitable for the World Cup are available in many places, it is above all the high costs for the construction and maintenance of the functional buildings that not all places can afford. Organizers of earlier World Cups such as Brezno - Osrblie , Ridnaun or Beitostølen therefore only organize races within the framework of the IBU Cup , because there the requirements and the financial outlay are much lower than for a World Cup. The space required by the IBU for offices and common rooms is not completely available even in places like Oberhof , Ruhpolding or Antholz , which is why additional, large marquees are set up during a World Cup . These tents usually also contain the VIP areas, the catering and lounge areas for the helpers and a restaurant for visitors.

building

The requirements for the buildings are clearly defined in the guidelines for the organizing committee. Several offices with a total of at least 135 m² are required to look after the stadium and the competitions, all of which have to be equipped with desks, chairs, telephones, computers, internet access and fax machines . In addition, there must be a first aid area , storage room and toilets. Four offices with 75 to 110 m² are planned for the technical delegation, another room for the technical committee and a storage room for their equipment must be provided. The timekeeping takes up another three offices with a total of 55 m². For the stadium announcers and for the staff who look after the screens in the stadium, the IBU demands three more offices with a total of 70 m². The service area includes ski wax cabins in "sufficient quantity", each of which must be at least 15 to 20 m² in size, a lounge for the athletes and supervisors with 100 m², a dining area with another 100 m², 50 m² for an internet café, a 100 m² Storage room for 250–300 rifles , an 80 m² area for dry target exercises and several toilets. The IBU claims a further seven offices with a total of 120 m² for its own staff. The conference room for the team captains meeting must be 150 m², for doping control 90 m² and its own spacious toilet are provided. Additional space must be made available for the helpers, including a kitchen for 100 people, as well as telecommunications.

Web links

Commons : Biathlon venues  - collection of images, videos and audio files

• biathlonworld.com Official IBU website
• biathlonresults.com IBU database with the current competition calendar and results from past World Cups

Individual evidence

1. ↑ The bursting of all great biathlon dreams. Salzburger Nachrichten, accessed on March 24, 2017 . 
2. ↑ Oberhof Biathlon World Cup goes to Ruhpolding on bayernwelle.de, accessed on March 7, 2017
3. ↑ World Cup in Tyumen deleted from eurosport.de, accessed on March 7, 2017
4. ↑ IBU relocates World Cup to Finland on sportschau.de, accessed on March 7, 2017
5. ↑ IBU Executive Board Meeting 132 (pdf) on cloudinary.com
6. ↑ OC Guidelines 2015 (pdf)  ( page no longer available , search in web archives )  Info: The link was automatically marked as defective. Please check the link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. at biathlonworld.com, accessed March 7, 2017