Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics

The program for the biathlon events was nearly the same than as at Vancouver in 2010, with only the mixed relay (2×6.0 km for women and 2×7.5 km for men) added to the Olympic Program.

Norway, usually a biathlon power, had mixed results in Sochi. Their star Ole Einar Bjørndalen won his first event, the 10 kilometres sprint, and was a gold medallist in the new mixed relay event, taking his overall tally to 13 Olympic medals, the most successful Winter Olympian ever, overtaking Bjørn Dæhlie. However Emil Hegle Svendsen was Norway’s only other winner, and despite winning three events and gaining six medals in total, some thought the nation had under-performed, particularly Tora Berger in the women’s events.

Darya Domracheva from Belarus was the female star, winning three of the individual events, with Martin Fourcade winning two of the men’s individual events. There was a family double when Anastasia Kuzmina won the women’s 10 kilometre sprint for Slovakia and was joined by her brother Anton Shipulin, who won gold as part of the Russian biathlon relay. In all 12 nations won medals in the sport. German Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle was one of the few doping positives in Sochi and was sent home immediately, as the German team also had a difficult Olympics in biathlon.