Biathlon combines cross-country skiing with precision rifle shooting. The sport, which originated from military training exercises in Scandinavia, is a real crowd-pleaser filled with tension and drama. Here’s what to know about biathlon at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
Some liken biathlon to running up 20 flights of stairs and then trying to thread a needle. Skiing stresses the muscles and lungs, while target shooting requires intense mental focus. Each racer carries a .22-caliber rifle on their back as they ski trails that run between 1.5 kilometers and 3.5 kilometers (0.9 to 2.2 miles), depending on race format. They enter the shooting range and try to hit five targets 50 meters (55 yards) away -- first in the prone position at targets the size of a golf ball and then standing, at targets the size of a compact disc. Racers must ski a 150-meter penalty loop or take a time penalty for each missed shot and head out for another lap. The fastest racer wins.
Even though biathlon legend Johannes Thingnes Boe retired last season, Norway retains a formidable men’s team. Sturla Holm Laegreid is the defending overall World Cup champion, while Johan-Olav Botn soared to the top of the standings at the start of this season. France has medal contenders in rising star Eric Perrot and veteran Quentin Fillon Maillet, who won five medals, including two gold, at the Beijing Olympics.
Germany’s Franziska Preuss edged France's Lou Jeanmonnot for the women's World Cup title last season and both are medal contenders at the Milan Cortina Games. Host nation Italy is counting on Tommaso Giacomel and former World Cup champions Lisa Vitozzi and Dorothea Wierer, who will be competing on her home track and plans to retire after this season.
The United States has never won an Olympic medal in biathlon but Campbell Wright, 23, has a decent chance to break the drought this year after winning two silver medals at last year's World Championships.
The 2026 Olympic biathlon races will be held in Anterselva, a mountain village in the Dolomites at an altitude of 5,249 feet (1,600 meters). The well-seasoned biathlon venue is an annual stop on the World Cup circuit, so biathletes are familiar with its challenging trails and shooting range. Biathlon begins on Feb. 8 with a mixed relay race and ends Feb. 21 with the women's mass start.
Norway’s Ole Einar Bjørndalen, a legend in the sport with 14 Olympic medals, in 2002 became the first and only biathlete to win gold medals in all four individual events at a Winter Games. Darya Domracheva of Belarus, now Bjørndalen's wife, pulled off a similar feat at the 2014 Sochi Olympics by winning three individual gold medals.
Another biathlon great, France's Martin Fourcade, dominated the 2018 Pyongcheang Olympics with three gold medals, including a dramatic photo finish against Germany’s Simon Schempp in the mass start race.
Thingnes Boe won four gold medals at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, sharing the podium in the sprint with his brother, Tarjei Boe who took bronze.
Early biathlon events involved heavier, high-caliber military rifles and classic-technique skiing. It changed to smaller, lighter .22-caliber rifles in the 1960s. Biathlon rifles must weigh at least 3.5 kilograms (7.7 pounds), not including magazines and ammunition.
Biathletes have 45 minutes before each race to “zero” their sights for the day's conditions, especially wind. Wind flags posted inside the range area let them know how strong it's blowing. During a race, biathletes check the flags to see if they changed since zeroing and make adjustments if needed.
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AP Winter Olympics: https://apnews.com/hub/milan-cortina-2026-winter-olympics
FILE - Franziska Preuss, of Germany, competes in the women's 7.5 km sprint race at the Biathlon World World Cup in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czech Republic, March. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Petr David Josek, File)
FILE - Lou Jeanmonnot of France competes in the women's 7.5 km sprint competition at the Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, Dec. 12, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
FILE - Quentin Fillon Maillet, of France, competes in the men's 4 X 7.5 km relay competition at the Biathlon World Cup in Hochfilzen, Austria, Dec. 14, 2025. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File)
Green Bay (9-7-1) at Chicago (11-6)
Saturday, 8 p.m. EST, Amazon Prime Video.
BetMGM NFL odds: Packers by 1.
Against the spread: Packers 6-10-1; Bears 9-7-1.
Series record: Packers lead 109-97-6.
Last meeting: Bears beat Packers 22-16 in OT at Chicago on Dec. 20
Last week: Packers lost at Minnesota 16-3; Bears lost to Detroit 19-16.
Packers offense: overall (15), rush (15), pass (17), scoring (16)
Packers defense: overall (12), rush (18), pass (11), scoring (11)
Bears offense: overall (6), rush (3), pass (10), scoring (9)
Bears defense: overall (29), overall (27), pass (22), scoring (23)
Turnover differential: Packers plus-1; Bears plus-22.
QB Jordan Love: He hasn’t played in a game since a helmet-to-helmet hit from Chicago’s Austin Booker in the second quarter of the Dec. 20 Packers-Bears game sent him into concussion protocol. Love was cleared before Green Bay’s regular-season finale, but the Packers opted to rest him for the playoffs. Love has nine touchdown passes and only two interceptions in six games against the Bears.
QB Caleb Williams. The Bears envisioned deep playoff runs on a regular basis when they drafted Williams with the No. 1 overall pick last year. They hope this is just the start. Williams threw for a franchise-record 3,942 yards with 27 touchdowns and just seven interceptions. Though his completion percentage ranked last among qualifying leaders, he became more and more comfortable in coach Ben Johnson's system.
Chicago's running backs against Green Bay's defensive line. Though the Bears' run game emerged as one of the best this season behind a retooled line, it was hard to tell against Detroit. Chicago managed just 65 yards rushing, with D'Andre Swift held to 40 yards on 10 attempts and rookie Kyle Monangai finishing with 14 yards on six carries. With Swift running for 1,087 yards and Monangai adding 783, the Bears were the only team with two 750-yard rushers. Green Bay struggled to stop the run in recent weeks, with Devonte Wyatt (ankle) and then Micah Parsons (knee) suffering season-ending injuries. The Packers gave up 150 yards rushing to the Bears in their most recent meeting and then allowed Derrick Henry to run for 216 yards and four touchdowns in a 41-24 loss to Baltimore.
Packers: WR/CB Bo Melton (knee), CB Kamal Hadden (ankle), CB Nate Hobbs (knee), DL Jordon Riley (Achilles tendon) and S Zayne Anderson (ankle) have gone on injured reserve since the most recent Packers-Bears game. ... WR Dontayvion Wicks (concussion) has been ruled out for Saturday's game. ... OT Zach Tom (knee) missed the Packers’ last three regular-season games and is questionable for Saturday. Also questionable are DL Warren Brinson (foot), S Javon Bullard (knee), LB Nick Niemann (pectoral) and backup QB Malik Willis (shoulder/hamstring).
Bears: WR Rome Odunze (foot) expects to play after missing the final five regular-season games. ... CB Kyler Gordon (groin) is questionable as he attempts to return after being sidelined since Week 13. He has been limited to three games because of hamstring and groin injuries. ... CB C.J. Gardner-Johnson, LB Amen Ogbongbemiga and DL Joe Tryon-Shoyinka have been ruled out because of concussions. ... OL Braxton Jones (knee) is questionable.
The Packers are 30-7 against the Bears counting the playoffs since the start of the 2008 season, with the past four games coming down to the wire. In 2024, both came down to field-goal attempts by Chicago's Cairo Santos on the final play — one that got blocked and one that was successful. This season, Green Bay hung on to win 28-21 in Week 14 at Lambeau Field when Keisean Nixon intercepted Williams in the end zone with 22 seconds remaining. Chicago returned the favor two weeks later, rallying from 10 down in the final two minutes of regulation before Williams threw a 46-yard touchdown to DJ Moore in overtime. This is the third playoff game between the longtime rivals — all in Chicago. The Bears won a Western Division playoff game over the Packers 33-14 at Wrigley Field on Dec. 14, 1941. The Packers beat the Bears 21-14 in an NFC championship game at Soldier Field on Jan. 23, 2011.
The Packers have the NFC’s No. 7 playoff seed for the third straight year. They reached the divisional round in 2023 and lost 22-10 at Philadelphia in the wild-card round last season. … The Packers dropped their final four regular-season games. … They’re the fourth team to enter the playoffs after losing at least four straight games to end the regular season. The others were the 1986 New York Jets, 1999 Detroit Lions and 2024 Pittsburgh Steelers. The only team in that group to win a playoff game was the 1986 Jets, who beat Kansas City in the wild-card round before losing to Cleveland in overtime in the divisional round. … Packers DL Rashan Gary had 7 ½ sacks in Green Bay’s first seven games but doesn’t have any since. … Packers RB Josh Jacobs had 13 touchdown runs this season, putting him in a tie for fourth place in the league. Jacobs didn’t play against the Vikings and had just 39 yards rushing on 16 carries over his final two regular-season games as he dealt with a knee issue. … The Bears won the NFC North for the first time since 2018 and made the playoffs for the first time since 2020. They have lost three straight postseason games since the 2010 team beat Seattle in a divisional game at Soldier Field. ... The Bears dropped their final two regular-season games, losing to Detroit on a last-second field goal after coming up short in a 42-38 shootout at San Francisco. They gave up 433 yards against the Lions after the 49ers went off for 496. ... If Chicago beats Green Bay, Ben Johnson would become the franchise's first coach to win a playoff game in their first season. ... The Bears led the league in interceptions (23), takeaways (33) and turnover differential (plus-22) while committing a league-low 11 turnovers. ... Chicago won six games after trailing in the final two minutes of the fourth quarter. ... With seven interceptions, S Kevin Byard led the league for the second time in his 10 seasons.
AP NFL: https://apnews.com/hub/nfl
Chicago Bears quarterback Caleb Williams (18) runs from Detroit Lions linebacker al-Quadin Muhammad (96) during the second half of an NFL football game, Sunday, Jan. 4, 2026, in Chicago. (AP Photo/Nam Y. Huh)
