Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics

The 2006 biathlon events were held at the Cesana San Sicario Arena, a Nordic center specifically built for the Torino Olympics. For the second consecutive Winter Olympics, the biathlon program was enlarged, adding a mass start race for both men (15 km) and women (12.5 km), which had first been held at the World Championships in 1999. Thus, there were five events for both men and women – the classical individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start, and relay. To avoid congestion on the course, only the top 30 ranked biathletes start in this event. Another minor change was in the women’s relay which was shortened from 4 x 7.5 km to 4 x 6 km.

Michael Greis would win three gold medals (20 km, relay, mass start) in Salt Lake City, and five other biathletes won three medals overall – Albina Akhatova, Kati Wilhelm, Martina Glagow, Sven Fischer, and Ole Einar Bjørndalen.