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.
__
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)
