The first Biathlon World Championships (BWCH) was held in 1958, with individual and team contests for men. The number of events has grown significantly over the years. Beginning in 1984, women biathletes had their own World Championships, and finally, from 1989, both genders have been participating in joint BWCHs. In 1978 the development was enhanced by the change from the large army rifle calibre to a small bore rifle, while the range to the target was reduced from 150 to 50 meters.
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The season's BWCHs takes place during February or March. Some years it has been necessary to schedule parts of the Championships at other than the main venue because of weather and/or snow conditions. Full, joint BWCHs have never been held in Olympic Winter Games seasons. BWCHs in non-IOC events, however, have been held in Olympic seasons. In 2005, the then new event of Mixed Relay (two legs done by women, two legs by men) was arranged separately from the ordinary Championships.
Arranged Championships:
Upcoming:
This event was first held in 1958.
This event was first held in 1974.
This event was first held in 1997.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Viktor Maigourov (RUS) | Sergey Tarasov (RUS) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| 1998 | Vladimir Dratchev (RUS) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
| 1999 | Ricco Groß (GER) | Frank Luck (GER) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
| 2000 | Frank Luck (GER) | Pavel Rostovtsev (RUS) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
| 2001 | Pavel Rostovtsev (RUS) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
| 2003 | Ricco Groß (GER) | Halvard Hanevold (NOR) | Paavo Puurunen (FIN) |
| 2004 | Ricco Groß (GER) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| 2005 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Sergei Tchepikov (RUS) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
| 2007 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Maxim Tchoudov (RUS) | Vincent Defrasne (FRA) |
| 2008 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Maxim Tchoudov (RUS) | Alexander Wolf (GER) |
| 2009 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Maxim Tchoudov (RUS) | Alexander Os (NOR) |
| 2011 | Martin Fourcade (FRA) | Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) | Tarjei Bø (NOR) |
This event was first held in 1999.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Sven Fischer (GER) | Vladimir Dratchev (RUS) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| 2000 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Pavel Rostovtsev (RUS) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| 2001 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
| 2002 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Sven Fischer (GER) | Frode Andresen (NOR) |
| 2003 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Sven Fischer (GER) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
| 2004 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Lars Berger (NOR) | Sergei Konovalov (RUS) |
| 2005 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Sven Fischer (GER) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
| 2007 | Michael Greis (GER) | Andreas Birnbacher (GER) | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
| 2008 | Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Maxim Tchoudov (RUS) |
| 2009 | Dominik Landertinger (AUT) | Christoph Sumann (AUT) | Ivan Tcherezov (RUS) |
| 2011 | Emil Hegle Svendsen (NOR) | Evgeny Ustyugov (RUS) | Lukas Hofer (ITA) |
This event was first held unofficially in 1965. It was a success, and replaced the team competition as an official event in 1966.
This event was held from 1958 to 1965. The times of the top 3 athletes from each country in the 20 km individual were added together (in 1958 the top 4).
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1958 | Sweden Adolf Wiklund Olle Gunneriusson Sture Ohlin Sven Nilsson |
Soviet Union Viktor Butakov Valentin Pzhenitsyn Dmitri Sokolov Alexander Gubin |
Norway Arvid Nyberg Asbjørn Bakken Knut Wold Rolf Gråtrud |
| 1959 | Soviet Union Vladimir Melanin Dmitri Sokolov Valentin Pzhenitsyn |
Sweden Sven Agge Adolf Wiklund Sture Ohlin |
Norway Knut Wold Henry Hermansen Ivar Skogsrud |
| 1961 | Finland Kalevi Huuskonen Paavo Repo Antti Tyrväinen |
Soviet Union Alexander Privalov Valentin Pzhenitsyn Dmitri Sokolov |
Sweden Klas Lestander Tage Lundin Stig Andersson |
| 1962 | Soviet Union Vladimir Melanin Valentin Pzhenitsyn Nikolay Puzanov |
Finland Antti Tyrväinen Hannu Posti Kalevi Huuskonen |
Norway Jon Istad Olav Jordet Henry Hermansen |
| 1963 | Soviet Union Vladimir Melanin Nikolay Mezharyakov Valentin Pzhenitsyn |
Finland Antti Tyrväinen Hannu Posti Veikko Hakulinen |
Norway Jon Istad Olav Jordet Egil Nygård |
| 1965 | Norway Olav Jordet Ola Wærhaug Ivar Nordkild |
Soviet Union Nikolay Puzanov Vladimir Melanin Vassiliy Makarov |
Poland Stanisław Szczepaniak Józef Rubiś Józef Sobczak-Gąsienica |
This event, a patrol race, was held from 1989 to 1998. 1989-93: 20 km. 1994-98: 10 km.
This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988 the distance was 10 km.
This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988 the distance was 5 km.
This event was first held in 1997.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1997 | Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) | Olena Zubrilova (UKR) | Olga Romasko (RUS) |
| 1998 | Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) | Corinne Niogret (FRA) | Martina Zellner (GER) |
| 1999 | Olena Zubrilova (UKR) | Martina Schwarzbacherova (SVK) | Martina Zellner (GER) |
| 2000 | Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) | Uschi Disl (GER) | Florence Baverel-Robert (FRA) |
| 2001 | Liv Grete Poirée (NOR) | Corinne Niogret (FRA) | Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) |
| 2003 | Sandrine Bailly (FRA), |
|
Svetlana Ishmouratova (RUS) |
| 2004 | Liv Grete Poirée (NOR) | Martina Glagow (GER) | Anna Bogaliy (RUS) |
| 2005 | Uschi Disl (GER) | Xianying Liu (CHN) | Olga Zaitseva (RUS) |
| 2007 | Magdalena Neuner (GER) | Linda Grubben (NOR) | Anna Carin Olofsson (SWE) |
| 2008 | Andrea Henkel (GER) | Ekaterina Iourieva (RUS) | Albina Akhatova (RUS) |
| 2009 | Helena Ekholm (SWE) | Kati Wilhelm (GER) | Olga Zaitseva (RUS) |
| 2011 | Kaisa Mäkäräinen (FIN) | Magdalena Neuner (GER) | Helena Ekholm (SWE) |
This event was first held in 1999.
| Year | Gold | Silver | Bronze |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1999 | Olena Zubrilova (UKR) | Olena Petrova (UKR) | Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) |
| 2000 | Liv Grete Poirée (NOR) | Galina Koukleva (RUS) | Corinne Niogret (FRA) |
| 2001 | Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) | Martina Glagow (GER) | Liv Grete Poirée (NOR) |
| 2002 | Olena Zubrilova (UKR) | Olga Pyleva (RUS) | Olga Nazarova (BLR) |
| 2003 | Albina Akhatova (RUS) | Svetlana Ishmouratova (RUS) | Sandrine Bailly (FRA) |
| 2004 | Liv Grete Poirée (NOR) | Katrin Apel (GER) | Sandrine Bailly (FRA) |
| 2005 | Gro M. Istad Kristiansen (NOR) | Anna Carin Olofsson (SWE) | Olga Pyleva (RUS) |
| 2007 | Andrea Henkel (GER) | Martina Glagow (GER) | Kati Wilhelm (GER) |
| 2008 | Magdalena Neuner (GER) | Tora Berger (NOR) | Ekaterina Iourieva (RUS) |
| 2009 | Olga Zaitseva (RUS) | Anastasiya Kuzmina (SVK) | Helena Jonsson (SWE) |
| 2011 | Magdalena Neuner (GER) | Darya Domracheva (BLR) | Tora Berger (NOR) |
This event was first held in 1984. Through 1988, the event was 3 x 5 km. 1989-91: 3 x 7.5 km. 1993-2001: 4 x 7.5 km. In 2003, the leg distance was set to 6 km.
This event, a patrol race, was held from 1989 to 1998. 1989-93: 15 km. 1994-98: 7.5 km.
This event was first held in 2005, at the Biathlon World Cup finals in Khanty-Mansiysk. In 2005 the women biathletes did the first two legs, and the men did the following two, while in 2006 the sequence was woman–man–woman–man. At the Biathlon World Championships 2007 in Antholz, the sequence was women–women–man–man. The men ski legs of 7.5 km (in 2005-06: 6 km) and the women ski 6 km each. From 2007 only one team per nation is allowed to compete.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | USSR CIS Russia |
44 1 25 70 |
29 1 37 67 |
21 0 22 43 |
94 2 84 180 |
| 2 | East Germany West Germany Germany |
19 2 48 69 |
12 4 36 52 |
10 7 26 43 |
41 13 110 164 |
| 3 | Norway | 49 | 53 | 49 | 151 |
| 4 | France | 18 | 15 | 24 | 57 |
| 5 | Sweden | 12 | 9 | 17 | 38 |
| 6 | Finland | 10 | 10 | 12 | 32 |
| 7 | Italy | 6 | 3 | 8 | 17 |
| 8 | Ukraine | 4 | 8 | 13 | 25 |
| 9 | Belarus | 4 | 7 | 13 | 24 |
| 10 | Czechoslovakia Czech Republic |
0 3 3 |
1 2 3 |
3 3 6 |
4 8 12 |
| 11 | Austria | 2 | 4 | 6 | 12 |
| 12 | Poland | 1 | 4 | 5 | 10 |
| 13 | Canada | 1 | 1 | 0 | 2 |
| 14 | Bulgaria | 0 | 3 | 4 | 7 |
| 15 | China | 0 | 3 | 0 | 3 |
| 16 | Slovakia | 0 | 2 | 1 | 3 |
| 17 | USA | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 18 | Romania | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 18 | Slovenia | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 20 | Latvia | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 21 | Croatia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 21 | Estonia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Total | 249 | 247 | 249 | 745 | |
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