Biathlon World Championships
The first Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The number of events has grown significantly over the years. Beginning in 1984, women biathletes had their own World Championships, and finally, from 1989, both genders have been participating in joint BWCHs. In 1978 the development was enhanced by the change from the large army rifle calibre to a small bore rifle, while the range to the target was reduced from 150 to 50 meters.
BWCH venues
The season's BWCHs takes place during February or March. Some years it has been necessary to schedule parts of the Championships at other than the main venue because of weather and/or snow conditions. Full, joint BWCHs have never been held in Olympic Winter Games seasons. BWCHs in non-IOC events, however, have been held in Olympic seasons. In 2005, the then new event of Mixed Relay (two legs done by women, two legs by men) was arranged separately from the ordinary Championships.
Arranged Championships:
- 1958
Saalfelden, Austria - 1959
Courmayeur, Italy - 1961
Umeå, Sweden - 1962
Hämeenlinna, Finland - 1963 Seefeld, Austria
- 1965
Elverum, Norway - 1966
Garmisch-Partenkirchen, West Germany - 1967
Altenberg, East Germany - 1969
Zakopane, Poland - 1970 Östersund, Sweden
- 1971 Hämeenlinna, Finland
- 1973
Lake Placid, New York, USA - 1974
Minsk, USSR - 1975 Antholz-Anterselva, Italy
- 1976 Antholz-Anterselva, Italy (Sprint)
- 1977 Vingrom, Norway
- 1978 Hochfilzen, Austria
- 1979 Ruhpolding, West Germany
- 1981 Lahti, Finland
- 1982 Minsk, USSR
- 1983 Antholz-Anterselva, Italy
- 1984
Chamonix, France (Women) - 1985 Ruhpolding, West Germany (Men) and
Egg am Etzel (near Einsiedeln), Switzerland (Women) - 1986 Oslo, Norway (Men) and Falun, Sweden (Women)
- 1987 Lake Placid, New York, USA (Men) and Lahti, Finland (Women)
- 1988 Chamonix, France (Women)
- 1989 Feistritz an der Drau, Austria (first joint Men+Women BWCH)
- 1990 Minsk, USSR; Oslo, Norway; and Kontiolahti, Finland
- 1991 Lahti, Finland
- 1992
Novosibirsk, Russia (Team) - 1993
Borovets, Bulgaria - 1994
Canmore, Canada (Team) - 1995 Antholz-Anterselva, Italy
- 1996 Ruhpolding, Germany
- 1997
Brezno-Osrblie, Slovakia - 1998
Pokljuka, Slovenia (Pursuit) and Hochfilzen, Austria (Team) - 1999 Kontiolahti, Finland and Oslo, Norway
- 2000 Oslo, Norway and Lahti, Finland
- 2001 Pokljuka, Slovenia
- 2002 Oslo, Norway (Mass start)
- 2003 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
- 2004 Oberhof, Germany
- 2005 Hochfilzen, Austria, and Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (K-M: Mixed Relay)
- 2006 Pokljuka, Slovenia (Mixed Relay)
- 2007 Antholz-Anterselva, Italy
- 2008 Östersund, Sweden
- 2009
Pyeongchang, South Korea - 2010 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia (Mixed Relay)
- 2011 Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia
- 2012 Ruhpolding, Germany
- 2013
Nové Město na Moravě, Czech Republic
Upcoming:
Men
Individual (20 km)
This event was first held in 1958.
Sprint (10 km)
This event was first held in 1974.
Pursuit (12.5 km)
This event was first held in 1997.
Mass start (15 km)
This event was first held in 1999.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |  Sven Fischer (GER)
|
 Vladimir Dratchev (RUS)
|
 Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR)
|
| 2000 |  Raphaël Poirée (FRA)
|
Pavel Rostovtsev (RUS)
|
Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR)
|
| 2001 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA)
|
Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR)
|
Sven Fischer (GER)
|
| 2002 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA)
|
Sven Fischer (GER)
|
Frode Andresen (NOR)
|
| 2003 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR)
|
Sven Fischer (GER)
|
Raphaël Poirée (FRA)
|
| 2004 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA)
|
Lars Berger (NOR)
|
Sergei Konovalov (RUS)
|
| 2005 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR)
|
Sven Fischer (GER)
|
Raphaël Poirée (FRA)
|
| 2007 | Michael Greis (GER)
|
Andreas Birnbacher (GER)
|
Raphaël Poirée (FRA)
|
| 2008 | Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR)
|
Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR)
|
Maxim Tchoudov (RUS)
|
| 2009 |  Dominik Landertinger (AUT)
|
Christoph Sumann (AUT)
|
Ivan Tcherezov (RUS)
|
| 2011 | Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR)
|
Evgeny Ustyugov (RUS)
|
 Lukas Hofer (ITA)
|
| 2012 | Martin Fourcade (FRA)
|
 Björn Ferry (SWE)
|
Fredrik Lindström (SWE)
|
| 2013 | Tarjei Bø (NOR)
|
Anton Shipulin (RUS)
|
Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR)
|
Relay (4 x 7.5 km)
This event was first held unofficially in 1965. It was a success, and replaced the team competition as an official event in 1966.
Team (20 km)
This event was held from 1958 to 1965. The times of the top 3 athletes from each country in the 20 km individual were added together (in 1958 the top 4).
Team
This event, a patrol race, was held from 1989 to 1998. 1989-93: 20 km. 1994-98: 10 km.
Women
Individual (15 km)
This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988 the distance was 10 km.
Sprint (7.5 km)
This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988 the distance was 5 km.
Pursuit (10 km)
This event was first held in 1997.
Mass start (12.5 km)
This event was first held in 1999.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 |  Olena Zubrilova (UKR)
|
Olena Petrova (UKR)
|
Magdalena Forsberg (SWE)
|
| 2000 | Liv Grete Poirée (NOR)
|
Galina Koukleva (RUS)
|
Corinne Niogret (FRA)
|
| 2001 | Magdalena Forsberg (SWE)
|
Martina Glagow (GER)
|
Liv Grete Poirée (NOR)
|
| 2002 | Olena Zubrilova (UKR)
|
Olga Pyleva (RUS)
|
 Olga Nazarova (BLR)
|
| 2003 | Albina Akhatova (RUS)
|
Svetlana Ishmouratova (RUS)
|
Sandrine Bailly (FRA)
|
| 2004 | Liv Grete Poirée (NOR)
|
Katrin Apel (GER)
|
Sandrine Bailly (FRA)
|
| 2005 | Gro M. Istad Kristiansen (NOR)
|
Anna Carin Olofsson (SWE)
|
Olga Pyleva (RUS)
|
| 2007 | Andrea Henkel (GER)
|
Martina Glagow (GER)
|
Kati Wilhelm (GER)
|
| 2008 | Magdalena Neuner (GER)
|
Tora Berger (NOR)
|
Ekaterina Iourieva (RUS)
|
| 2009 | Olga Zaitseva (RUS)
|
 Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK)
|
Helena Jonsson (SWE)
|
| 2011 | Magdalena Neuner (GER)
|
Darya Domracheva (BLR)
|
Tora Berger (NOR)
|
| 2012 | Tora Berger (NOR)
|
Marie Laure Brunet (FRA)
|
 Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN)
|
| 2013 | Darya Domracheva (BLR)
|
Tora Berger (NOR)
|
 Monika Hojnisz (POL)
|
Relay (4 x 6 km)
This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988, the event was 3 x 5 km. 1989-91: 3 x 7.5 km. 1993-2001: 4 x 7.5 km. In 2003, the leg distance was set to 6 km.
Team
This event, a patrol race, was held from 1989 to 1998. 1989-93: 15 km. 1994-98: 7.5 km.
Mixed
Relay
This event was first held in 2005, at the Biathlon World Cup finals in Khanty-Mansiysk. In 2005 the women biathletes did the first two legs, and the men did the following two, while in 2006 the sequence was woman–man–woman–man. At the Biathlon World Championships 2007 in Antholz, the sequence was women–women–man–man. The men ski legs of 7.5 km (in 2005-06: 6 km) and the women ski 6 km each. From 2007 only one team per nation is allowed to compete.
Total medals by country
| 1 | Norway |
61 | 56 | 51 | 168 |
| 2 | Germany |
50 | 38 | 29 | 117 |
| 3 |  Soviet Union |
44 | 29 | 21 | 94 |
| 4 | Russia |
25 | 38 | 25 | 88 |
| 5 | France |
22 | 24 | 24 | 70 |
| 6 |  East Germany |
19 | 12 | 10 | 41 |
| 7 | Sweden |
12 | 11 | 21 | 44 |
| 8 | Finland |
10 | 10 | 13 | 33 |
| 9 | Belarus |
6 | 8 | 13 | 27 |
| 10 | Italy |
6 | 3 | 9 | 18 |
| 11 | Ukraine |
5 | 9 | 17 | 31 |
| 12 |  Czech Republic |
3 | 2 | 5 | 10 |
| 13 | West Germany |
2 | 4 | 7 | 13 |
| 14 | Austria |
2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| 15 | Poland |
1 | 5 | 6 | 12 |
| 16 |  Slovenia |
1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 17 |  Canada |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
 CIS |
1 | 1 | 0 | 2 | |
| 19 |  Bulgaria |
0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 20 |  China |
0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 21 | Slovakia |
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
 USA |
0 | 2 | 1 | 3 | |
| 23 | Czechoslovakia |
0 | 1 | 3 | 4 |
| 24 |  Romania |
0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 25 |  Latvia |
0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 26 |  Croatia |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Estonia |
0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 271 | 269 | 271 | 811 | |
Multiple medallist
Men
| # | Athlete | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen | Norway
|
19 | 11 | 9 | 39 |
| 2 | Frank Luck | East Germany Germany
|
11 | 5 | 4 | 20 |
| 3 | Emil Hegle Svendsen Alexander Tikhonov |
Norway Soviet Union
|
11 11 |
4 4 |
2 2 |
17 17 |
| 5 | Ricco Groß | Germany
|
9 | 5 | 6 | 20 |
| 6 | Frank Ullrich | East Germany
|
9 | 4 | 1 | 14 |
| 7 | Sven Fischer | Germany
|
7 | 6 | 7 | 20 |
| 8 | Raphaël Poirée | France
|
7 | 3 | 7 | 17 |
| 9 | Mark Kirchner | East Germany Germany
|
7 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
| 10 | Tarjei Bø | Norway
|
7 | 0 | 2 | 9 |
Women
| # | Athlete | Country | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Magdalena Neuner | Germany
|
12 | 4 | 1 | 17 |
| 2 | Elena Golovina | Soviet Union
|
10 | 1 | 1 | 12 |
| 3 | Petra Behle | West Germany Germany
|
9 | 2 | 2 | 13 |
| 4 | Uschi Disl | Germany
|
8 | 8 | 3 | 19 |
| 5 | Andrea Henkel | Germany
|
8 | 6 | 2 | 16 |
| 6 | Tora Berger | Norway
|
8 | 5 | 5 | 18 |
| 7 | Liv Grete Poirée | Norway
|
8 | 3 | 2 | 13 |
| 8 | Svetlana Pečërskaja | Soviet Union Unified Team
|
7 | 3 | 1 | 11 |
| 9 | Kaija Parve | Soviet Union
|
7 | 2 | 0 | 9 |
| 10 | Venera Chernyshova | Soviet Union
|
7 | 1 | 2 | 10 |
