Biathlon at the 1988 Winter Olympics

Dates 20 – 26 February 1988
Medal Events 3

The 1988 biathlon events were held at Canmore Nordic Centre, a specially constructed venue for the 1988 Calgary Olympics. Canmore is located 105 km (65 miles) west of Calgary, and was later declared an Alberta Provincial Park, with areas for cross-country skiing, mountain biking, and hiking. The 1988 Olympic biathlon program was the same as in 1980 and 1984, with three events – the 20 km classical distance, a 10 km sprint, and a relay of 4 x 7.5 km.

East German Frank-Peter Roetsch won both individual events, but missed out on a medal in the relay, when his team placed fifth. In the relay Roetsch was second off for East Germany, and went off 12th, but skied the second fastest leg of the event to move up to fifth place. Soviet biathlete Valery Medvedtsev won three medals, with silvers in both individual races, and anchoring his relay team to the gold medal.

Events

Event Status Date Participants NOCs
10 kilometres Sprint, Men Olympic 23 February 1988 72 22
20 kilometres, Men Olympic 20 February 1988 71 21
4 × 7.5 kilometres Relay, Men Olympic 26 February 1988 64 16
90 (90/0) 22 (22/0)

Medals

Event Gold Silver Bronze
10 kilometres Sprint, Men Frank-Peter RoetschGDR Valery MedvedtsevURS Sergey ChepikovURS
20 kilometres, Men Frank-Peter RoetschGDR Valery MedvedtsevURS Johann PasslerITA
4 × 7.5 kilometres Relay, Men Soviet UnionURS West GermanyFRG ItalyITA

Medal table

NOC Gold Silver Bronze Total
East Germany GDR 2 0 0 2
Soviet Union URS 1 2 1 4
West Germany FRG 0 1 0 1
Italy ITA 0 0 2 2