The Biathlon World Cup is a top-level biathlon season-long competition series. It has been held since the winter seasons of 1977âÂÂ78 for men and 1982âÂÂ83 for women. The women's seasons until 1986âÂÂ87 season were called the European Cup, although participation was not restricted to Europeans.
The World Cup season lasts from November or December to late March, with meetings in a different venue every week excluding some holidays and a couple of weeks before the season's major championships (World Championships or Winter Olympics). All in all, the season comprises nine to ten meetings, with events taking place from WednesdayâÂÂThursday through Sunday. Relay competitions are held four to six times per season. Formerly counted as World Cup events were World Championships (the last Championship to count towards the World Cup were held in Pokljuka, Slovenia 2021) and Winter Olympics events (the last Olympics to count towards the World Cup were the 2010 Winter Olympics: from the 2014 Winter Olympics competitors are no longer awarded World Cup points for their Olympic performances).
The athlete with the highest overall total score (i.e. total score for all disciplines) of the World Cup season is awarded the Big Crystal Globe trophy. A Small Crystal Globe trophy is awarded for the first place in the season total for each discipline. Hence, it is possible for an athlete to win both the Big Crystal Globe and Small Crystal Globes for the same World Cup season.
The tables given below provide an overview of the highest-ranking biathletes and nations of each WC season. For sprint/individual/pursuit/mass start first place gives 90 points, 2nd place â 75 pts, 3rd place â 65 pts, 4th place â 55 pts, 5th place â 50 pts, 6th place â 45 pts, 7th â 41 pts, 8th â 37 points, 9th â 34 points, 10th â 31 points, then linearly decreasing by one point down to the 40th place. In Equal placings (ties) give an equal number of points. The mass start from 22nd to 30th has different way of points giving. The sum of all WC points of the season, less the points from an IBU-predetermined number of events (e.g. 2), gives the biathlete's total WC score.
From 1985 to 2000, WC points were awarded so that the first four places gave 30, 26, 24, and 22 points, respectively, and then the 5th to 25th place gave 21, 20, ..., down to 1 point. Before this, points were simply awarded linearly from 25 to 1.
As of February 2024, meetings have primarily been held in Europe and North America; the only other places to have hosted meetings that weren't the World Championships or the Winter Olympics, are Nagano, Japan in 1996âÂÂ97, and Pyeongchang, South Korea in 2007âÂÂ08 and 2016âÂÂ17.
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The women's World Cup seasons until 1986âÂÂ87 were actually called the European Cup, although participation was open to biathletes of all nationalities. Until 1987âÂÂ88, women raced on shorter tracks than they do today. The 1988âÂÂ89 season was the first in which women raced on tracks of the same length that they do nowadays.
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The U25 and U23 classifications were introduced in the Biathlon World Cup to recognize the best young biathletes under the age of 25 and under the age of 23, respectively. The titles are awarded based on the total points accumulated in all individual competitions throughout the season. The U25 category was contested from the 2020âÂÂ21 season until 2023âÂÂ24, while the U23 category replaced it starting from the 2024âÂÂ25 season. Below are the podium finishers for both men and women since the inception of the classifications, as well as medal tables by country.
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List of Biathlon World Cup winners of men's discipline titles, List of Biathlon World Cup winners of women's discipline titles
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Below is a list of all male and female biathletes that have won eight or more individual World Cup, World Championships or Olympic races. Biathletes whose names are highlighted in light blue are still active.
List of top 15 most started all male and female biathletes in individual World Cup or Olympic races. Biathletes whose names are highlighted in light blue are still active.