Biathlon at the Winter Olympics

Biathlon became an official event at the Winter Olympics in 1960 during the games held in Olympic Valley, California. It started with one race for men that was 20 kilometers long. Over time, more races were added, including relay events where teams of athletes worked together.

In 1992, women joined the biathlon competition at the Winter Olympics in Albertville. They began with a 15-kilometer race and a shorter sprint race. Later, new types of races like the pursuit and mass start were added to make the competition more exciting.

Each biathlon race mixes cross-country skiing and shooting. Athletes must stop to shoot at targets during their race, and if they miss, they get a penalty. This combination of skills makes biathlon a special and challenging sport at the Winter Olympics.

Military patrol

Main article: Military patrol at the Winter Olympics

Before the biathlon began at the 1960 Winter Olympics, there was an event called military patrol. It was held at four Winter Olympic Games: (/wiki/1924_Winter_Olympics), (/wiki/1928_Winter_Olympics), (/wiki/1936_Winter_Olympics), and (/wiki/1948_Winter_Olympics). In 1924, people received medals for military patrol, but in the other three Games, it was only shown as an example. The International Biathlon Union believes military patrol was the start of biathlon.

Summary

Biathlon started at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Olympic Valley, California with a men's 20 km individual race. In 1968 at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, a men's relay race was added. The men's 10 km sprint event began in 1980 at the Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Women's biathlon events started in 1992 at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France. These included the 15 km individual race, a relay race, and the 7.5 km sprint.

Events

Men's

• = official event, (d) = demonstration event

Women's

• = official event, (d) = demonstration event

Mixed

Medal table

See also: List of Olympic medalists in biathlon

Sources (after the 2026 Winter Olympics):
Accurate as of 2026 Winter Olympics and IOC Executive Board decision of September 19, 2025 to reallocate Olympic medals for Vancouver 2010 and Sochi 2014

Notes

• This table does not include medals of 1924 military patrol event, that the IOC now treats as a separate discipline.
• 2 silver medals and no bronze were awarded at 2010 men's individual distance.

Rank	Nation	Gold	Silver	Bronze	Total
1	Norway	25	23	19	67
2	Germany	21	20	14	55
3	France	19	12	14	45
4	Soviet Union	9	5	5	19
5	Russia	8	5	7	20
6	Sweden	7	7	8	22
7	Belarus	4	4	3	11
8	East Germany	3	4	4	11
9	Slovakia	3	4	0	7
10	Unified Team	2	2	2	6
11	Canada	2	0	1	3
12	Italy	1	2	6	9
13	West Germany	1	2	2	5
14	Ukraine	1	1	3	5
15	Bulgaria	1	0	2	3
16	Czech Republic	0	4	5	9
17	Austria	0	4	3	7
	Finland	0	4	3	7
19	ROC	0	1	3	4
20	Slovenia	0	1	1	2
21	Kazakhstan	0	1	0	1
	Poland	0	1	0	1
	Switzerland	0	1	0	1
24	Croatia	0	0	1	1
Totals (24 entries)		107	108	106	321

Number of biathletes by nation

Biathlon is a Winter Olympic sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Countries send athletes to compete, and each country has a certain number of biathletes they can enter.

Here is a list of how many biathletes some nations have sent to the Winter Olympics: