Biathlon World Championships

Publication date: 19 Jan 2023

About the Biathlon World Championships 

The Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) is an international biathlon competition held annually in February and March, apart from the year of the Winter Olympics.

Athletes who compete in the BWCH earn points that count towards the overall World Cup and the Nations Cup. Not only male athletes, but also female ones take part in this championship. Men and women have been competing together in the championships since 1989.

2026 Biathlon World Championships

The 2026 Biathlon World Championships will be held from 13 to 21 February 2026. The venue for the tournament was chosen taking into account the high level of infrastructure and the region’s readiness to organize world-class competitions. In 2026, the competition will be held in Canada, at the famous biathlon complex in Quebec. This will be the first time that the Biathlon World Championships will be held in Canada, and the country is preparing to host spectators and athletes at the highest level.

Participants of the 2026 Biathlon World Championships

The strongest biathletes on the planet will take part in the 2026 Biathlon World Championships. Each athlete will fight for the coveted medals, as well as for important points in the ranking of international competitions. We can already expect the participation of such biathlon stars as Tarjei Boe (Norway), Dmitry Malyshko (Russia), Heidi Wischner (Germany), as well as young talents who can surprise on the international arena.

In addition, athletes from other countries that have shown excellent results at the World Cup stages, such as France, Sweden, Austria and Finland, will take part in the championship. These competitions will be an important stage in the preparation for the 2026 Olympic Games in Milan-Cortina, so the competition will be particularly tough.

What is important to know about the 2026 Biathlon World Championships?

1. Main disciplines: The championship program will feature all the traditional disciplines, including sprint, individual races, relay and mass start. Athletes will compete for both individual medals and team awards, which makes the championship even more intense and spectacular.
2. Interesting predictions: Unexpected results often occur in biathlon. Young talents such as Lisa Therese Hauswald and Philipp Kohlschreit have already shown excellent results at previous championships, and in 2026 they could become new stars.
3. Spectacularity of the competition: The Biathlon World Championships always attract not only professionals, but also a huge number of fans of this spectacular sport. Spectators can expect exciting races, where every hit on the target and every fast turn on the track will matter.

History of the Biathlon World Championships

Biathlon as a sport has its origins in a military patrol race, which involved 4 servicemen with a senior and a junior officer and 2 privates. Their task was to cover a distance of 25 km with weighted knapsacks and shoot at targets with rifles on the way.  1958 was the year of the first biathlon World Cup. At that moment the Swedish athlete Adolf Wiklund, who fired all his shots without a miss, impressed everyone. Surprisingly, at the first Biathlon World Championships a military rifle was used.

Biathlon as a discipline has been part of the Olympics since 1960.

The official history of the women’s event dates back to 1983, when it was known as the European Biathlon Championships, although not only European teams took part.

Each year the number of relays has increased, starting with the individual 20 km race.

Results of the previous BWCH

2027 Biathlon World Championships

According to preliminary information, the next city to host the championship is Otepää in Estonia in 2027.

Keep an eye on the dates of the men’s and women’s biathlon competitions and other events in our Sporting Events Calendar.