Biathlon at the Winter Olympics - AbsoluteAstronomy.com

Biathlon
Biathlon
Biathlon is a term used to describe any sporting event made up of two disciplines. However, biathlon usually refers specifically to the winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting...

debuted at the 1960 Winter Olympics

1960 Winter Olympics

The 1960 Winter Olympics, officially known as the VIII Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event held between February 18 and 28, 1960 in Squaw Valley, California, United States. In 1955 at the 50th IOC meeting, the organizing committee made the surprise choice to award Squaw Valley as...

in Squaw Valley with the men's 20 km individual event. At the 1968 Winter Olympics

1968 Winter Olympics

The 1968 Winter Olympics, officially known as the X Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1968 in Grenoble, France and opened on 6 February. Thirty-seven countries participated...

in Grenoble

Grenoble

Grenoble is a city in southeastern France, at the foot of the French Alps where the river Drac joins the Isère. Located in the Rhône-Alpes region, Grenoble is the capital of the department of Isère...

, the men's 4×7.5 km relay debuted, followed by the 10 km sprint event at the 1980 Winter Olympics

1980 Winter Olympics

The 1980 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XIII Olympic Winter Games, was a multi-sport event which was celebrated from 13 February through 24 February 1980 in Lake Placid, New York, United States of America. This was the second time the Upstate New York village hosted the Games, after 1932...

in Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid, New York

Lake Placid is a village in the Adirondack Mountains in Essex County, New York, United States. As of the 2000 census, the village had a population of 2,638....

. Beginning at the 1992 Winter Olympics

1992 Winter Olympics

The 1992 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XVI Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event celebrated from 8 to 23 February 1992 in Albertville, France. They were the last Winter Olympics to be held the same year as the Summer Olympics, and the first where the Winter Paralympics...

in Albertville

Albertville

Albertville is a commune in the Savoie department in the Rhône-Alpes region in south-eastern France.The town is best known for hosting the 1992 Winter Olympics.-Geography:...

, women's biathlon debuted with the 15 km individual, 3×7.5 km relay (4×7.5 km during 1994-2002, and 4×6 km in 2006), and 7.5 km sprint. A pursuit race (12.5 km for men and 10 km for women) was included at the 2002 Winter Olympics

2002 Winter Olympics

The 2002 Winter Olympics, officially the XIX Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event that was celebrated in February 2002 in and around Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. Approximately 2,400 athletes from 77 nations participated in 78 events in fifteen disciplines, held throughout...

in Salt Lake City. The top 60 finishers of the sprint race (10 km for men and 7.5 km for women) would qualify for the pursuit event. The sprint winner starts the race, followed by each successive biathlete at the same time interval he/she trailed the sprint winner in that event. At the 2006 Winter Olympics

2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 Winter Olympics, officially known as the XX Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in Turin, Italy from February 10, 2006, through February 26, 2006. This marked the second time Italy hosted the Olympic Winter Games, the first being the VII Olympic Winter...

in Turin

Turin

Turin is a city and major business and cultural centre in northern Italy, capital of the Piedmont region, located mainly on the left bank of the Po River and surrounded by the Alpine arch. The population of the city proper is 909,193 while the population of the urban area is estimated by Eurostat...

, a mass start (15 km for men and 12.5 km for women) was introduced where the top 30 biathletes from the previous four events were allowed to start together for the competition.

Prior to the biathlon debut at the 1960 Winter Olympics

1960 Winter Olympics

, there was a military patrol

Military patrol

Military patrol is a team winter sport in which athletes compete in both cross-country skiing respectively ski mountaineering, and rifle shooting. It is usually contested between countries or military units. Biathlon was developed from military patrol....

event that was held at four Winter Olympic Games

Winter Olympic Games

The Winter Olympic Games is a sporting event, which occurs every four years. The first celebration of the Winter Olympics was held in Chamonix, France, in 1924. The original sports were alpine and cross-country skiing, figure skating, ice hockey, Nordic combined, ski jumping and speed skating...

: 1924

1924 Winter Olympics

The 1924 Winter Olympics, officially known as the I Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was held in 1924 in Chamonix, France...

, 1928

1928 Winter Olympics

The 1928 Winter Olympics, officially known as the II Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated February 11–19, 1928 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The 1928 Games were the first true Winter Olympics held on its own as they were not in conjunction with a Summer Olympics...

, 1936

1936 Winter Olympics

The 1936 Winter Olympics, officially known as the IV Olympic Winter Games, were a winter multi-sport event which was celebrated in 1936 in the market town of Garmisch-Partenkirchen in Bavaria, Germany. Germany also hosted the Summer Olympics the same year in Berlin...

, and 1948

1948 Winter Olympics

The 1948 Winter Olympics, officially known as the V Olympic Winter Games, was a winter multi-sport event celebrated in 1948 in St. Moritz, Switzerland. The Games were the first to be celebrated after World War II; it had been twelve years since the last Winter Games in 1936...

. Medals were awarded for military patrol in 1924, but it was a demonstration event

Demonstration sport

A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...

for the other three Games.

Events

• = official event , (d) = demonstration event
Demonstration sport
A demonstration sport is a sport which is played to promote itself, most commonly during the Olympic Games, but also at other sporting events.Demonstration sports were officially introduced in 1912 Summer Olympics, when Sweden decided to include glima, traditional Icelandic wrestling, in the...

Event	24 Military patrol at the 1924 Winter Olympics At the 1924 Winter Olympics, in Chamonix, France, in 1924, a military patrol competition was held. The Olympic lists the official medal winners for the event, yet several sources have counted this competition as a demonstration event only. The event was also demonstrated in 1928, 1936, and 1948,...	28 Military patrol at the 1928 Winter Olympics At the 1928 Winter Olympics, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1928, a military patrol competition was held. Because of a snowstorm the night before the competition, the start of the event was delayed 45 minutes to the cleaning up of the track. The competition was contested over a 30 km distance...	32	36 Military patrol at the 1936 Winter Olympics At the 1936 Winter Olympics, in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, in 1936, a military patrol competition was held. The International Olympic Committee refused admission of this sport into the Olympic Program, but the expressed desires of Adolf Hitler forced the IOC to make this program a...	48 Military patrol at the 1948 Winter Olympics At the 1948 Winter Olympics, in St. Moritz, Switzerland, in 1948, the last military patrol competition was held as a demonstration sport. This was in part to the aftermath of World War II, which decimated Europe. This sport would be superseded by the biathlon competition which debuted at the 1960...	52	56	60 Biathlon at the 1960 Winter Olympics -20 km:In 1960 and 1964, there was a 2-minute penalty for each missed target in the Individual Biathlon Event. Since 1968, that penalty has been 1 minute for every missed target.-References:*...	64 Biathlon at the 1964 Winter Olympics -20 km:In 1964 as in 1960, there was a two-minute penalty for every missed target in the Individual Event. Since 1968, this penalty has been one minute per missed target.-References:*...	68 Biathlon at the 1968 Winter Olympics -20 km:This was the first Olympics in which any missed target equaled a one minute penalty-4 x 7.5 km relay:-References:*...	72 Biathlon at the 1972 Winter Olympics -20 km:-4 x 7.5 km relay:-References:*...	76 Biathlon at the 1976 Winter Olympics -20 km:-4 x 7.5 km relay:-References:*...	80 Biathlon at the 1980 Winter Olympics -10 km:-20 km:-4 x 7.5 km relay:Tikhonov announced his retirement after his fourth straight biathlon relay gold medal and fifth medal overall.-References:*...	84 Biathlon at the 1984 Winter Olympics -10 km:-20 km:One missed target equals a one minute penalty.-4 x 7.5 km relay:-References:*...	88 Biathlon at the 1988 Winter Olympics -10 km sprint:February 23, 1988-20 km individual:February 20, 1988-4 x 7.5 km relay:February 26, 1988-References:*...	92 Biathlon at the 1992 Winter Olympics The 1992 Winter Olympic Games Biathlon resultsThe Biathlon competitions were held at Les Saisies, about 40 km from host city Albertville.-Medal table:-10 km sprint:February 12, 1992-20 km:February 20, 1992...	94 Biathlon at the 1994 Winter Olympics The 1994 Winter Olympics Biathlon results.The sport of biathlon combines the skills of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.- 10 km :February 23, 1994- 20 km :February 20, 1994One missed target equals a one minute penalty.- 4 x 7.5 km relay :...	98 Biathlon at the 1998 Winter Olympics -10 km Sprint:February 18, 1998-20 km Individual:February 11, 1998Each missed target equals a one-minute penalty.-4 x 7.5 km Relay:-7.5 km Sprint:February 15, 1998-15 km Individual:February 9, 1998-4 x 7.5 km Relay:-References:*...	02 Biathlon at the 2002 Winter Olympics The 2002 Winter Olympic Games Biathlon were held at Soldier Hollow.-10 km Sprint:Without any misses with the shooting, Bjørndalen wins his second gold of the Games.-12.5 km Pursuit:...	06 Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics consisted of ten biathlon events. They were held at the Cesana-San Sicario arena. The events began on 11 February and ended on 25 February 2006. Approximately 6,500 spectators were expected by the organizing committee...	10 Biathlon at the 2010 Winter Olympics The biathlon competition at the 2010 Winter Olympics were held at Whistler Olympic Park in Whistler, British Columbia. The events were held between the 13th and 26 February 2010....	14	Years
Military patrol	•	(d)		(d)	(d)																		4
Men's individual (20 km)								•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	15
Men's relay (4×7.5 km)										•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	13
Men's sprint (10 km)													•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	•	10
Men's pursuit (12.5 km)																			•	•	•	•	4
Men's mass start (15 km)																				•	•	•	3
Women's individual (15 km)																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	7
Women's relay (4×6 km)																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	7
Women's sprint (7.5 km)																•	•	•	•	•	•	•	7
Women's pursuit (10 km)																			•	•	•	•	4
Women's mass start (12.5 km)																				•	•	•	3
Mixed relay (2x6 + 2x7.5 km)																						•	1

Total events	1	1		1	1			1	1	2	2	2	3	3	3	6	6	6	8	10	10	11

Notes

Medal table

1	Germany	16	18	9	43
2	Norway	12	11	6	29
3	Soviet Union	9	5	5	19
4	Russia	9	4	7	18
5	France	4	4	9	17
6	German Democratic Republic	3	4	4	11
7	Sweden	3	1	6	10
8		2	2	2	6
9	Canada	2	0	1	3
10	West Germany	1	2	2	5
11	Slovakia	1	1	1	3
12	Bulgaria	1	0	1	2
13	Switzerland	1	0	0	1
14	Finland	0	5	2	7
15	Belarus	0	2	2	4
16	Austria	0	2	1	3
17	Italy	0	1	2	3
17	Ukraine	0	1	2	3
19	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	1
19	Poland	0	1	0	1
21	Croatia	0	0	1	1