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 began with a single race for men covering 20 kilometers. Over the years, more races were added, including relay events where teams of athletes worked together.

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

Each biathlon race combines cross-country skiing and shooting. Athletes must stop to shoot targets during their race, and penalties are added if they miss. This mix of skills makes biathlon a unique and challenging sport at the Winter Olympics.

Military patrol

Main article: Military patrol at the Winter Olympics

Before the biathlon started 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, medals were given for military patrol, but for the other three Games, it was just shown as an example. The International Biathlon Union thinks military patrol was the beginning of biathlon.

Summary

Biathlon was first introduced at the 1960 Winter Olympics in Olympic Valley, California with a men's 20 km individual race. Later, in 1968 at the Winter Olympics in Grenoble, France, the men's 4 × 7.5 km relay race was added. The 10 km sprint event for men began at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid, New York. Women's biathlon events started in 1992 at the Winter Olympics in Albertville, France, including the 15 km individual race, the 3 × 7.5 km relay (which changed to 4 × 7.5 km from 1994 to 2002 and then to 4 × 6 km in 2006), 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