Biathlon at the Winter Olympics
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Biathlon debuted at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Squaw Valley with the men's 20 km individual event. At the 1968 Winter Olympics in Grenoble, the men's 4×7.5 km relay debuted, followed by the 10 km sprint event at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Beginning at the 1992 Winter Olympics in Albertville, 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 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 in Turin, 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, there was a military patrol event that was held at four Winter Olympic Games: 1924, 1928, 1936, and 1948. Medals were awarded for military patrol in 1924, but it was a demonstration event for the other three Games.
[edit] Events
• = official event , (d) = demonstration event
| Event | 24 | 28 | 32 | 36 | 48 | 52 | 56 | 60 | 64 | 68 | 72 | 76 | 80 | 84 | 88 | 92 | 94 | 98 | 02 | 06 |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Military patrol | • | (d) | (d) | (d) | ||||||||||||||||
| Men's individual (20 km) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||
| Men's relay (4×7.5 km) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||
| Men's sprint (10 km) | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | • | ||||||||||||
| Men's pursuit (12.5 km) | • | • | ||||||||||||||||||
| Men's mass start (15 km) | • | |||||||||||||||||||
| Women's individual (15 km) | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||||
| Women's relay (4×6 km) [1] | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||||
| Women's sprint (7.5 km) | • | • | • | • | • | |||||||||||||||
| Women's pursuit (10 km) | • | • | ||||||||||||||||||
| Women's mass start (12.5 km) | • |
- Notes
- ^ The women's relay has been contested over three different distances: 3×7.5 km (1992), 4×7.5km (1994-2002) and 4×6 km (2006)
[edit] Medal table
- See also: List of Olympic medalists in biathlon
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Germany (GER) |
14 | 17 | 7 | 38 |
| 2 |  Norway (NOR) |
9 | 9 | 6 | 24 |
| 3 |  USSR (URS) |
9 | 5 | 5 | 19 |
| 4 |  Russia (RUS) |
7 | 3 | 6 | 16 |
| 5 |  East Germany (GDR) |
3 | 4 | 4 | 11 |
| 6 |  France (FRA) |
3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 7 |  Unified Team (EUN) |
2 | 2 | 2 | 6 |
| 8 |  Sweden (SWE) |
2 | 1 | 6 | 9 |
| 9 |  Canada (CAN) |
2 | 0 | 1 | 3 |
| 10 | West Germany (FRG) |
1 | 2 | 2 | 5 |
| 11 |  Bulgaria (BUL) |
1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 12 |  Finland (FIN) |
0 | 4 | 2 | 6 |
| 13 |  Italy (ITA) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
 Ukraine (UKR) |
0 | 1 | 2 | 3 | |
| 15 |  Belarus (BLR) |
0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 16 |  Poland (POL) |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 17 |  Austria (AUT) |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Biathlon at the Winter Olympics |
|
1924* | 1928* | 1932 | 1936* | 1948* | 1952 | 1956 | 1960 | 1964 | 1968 | 1972 | 1976 | 1980 | 1984 | 1988 | 1992 | 1994 | 1998 | 2002 | 2006 |
| *Military Patrol (demonstration event in 1928, 1936, and 1948) |
