Biathlon at the 2026 Winter Olympics

Biathlon at Milano-Cortina 2026 was held at the Cortina Cluster, with the events taking place at the South Tyrol Arena in Trentino, near to Cortina, also known as the Antholz-Anterselva Biathlon Arena. The programme was precisely the same as it was since 2014 with 11 events, 5 for men, 5 for women, with a mixed relay.

The distances that the men and women contested were slightly different with the men always running a longer course. This led to some controversy in the media who were by now insistent that men’s and women’s programs be fully equalized. The International Biathlon Union explained away the difference by stating that it was designed so that the events for men and women would take approximately the same time, if not the same distance, which made some sense, but did little to assuage the media’s concerns.

The top biathlon nation in 2026 was France, which last led the medal table in 2010, although they had never before been the top nation in terms of both medals and gold medals. On the men’s side Norway was the top nation, winning two gold medals and eight medals, to two gold medals and five medals for France. Oddly, only three nations won medals in men’s biathlon, with Sweden coming in third in the table with a single gold and bronze medal.

However, the French women easily led in both measures, with three gold medals and seven medals, while no other nation won more than three women’s medals. In addition, France added a gold medal in the mixed relay. Seven nations won medals in women’s biathlon, all European, as Norway trailed France with three medals, one of each place, and then Italy, Sweden, Bulgaria, Czechia, and Finland all won a single women’s medal, Italy taking home the only other gold. Overall, France won 13 medals in biathlon, Norway had 11, and six other nations won the remaining nine.

Individually, Norwegian Sturla Holm Lægreid brought home five medals, but failed to win an event, claiming three silver and two bronze medals. The top biathlon champions at Trentino were both French, with Julia Simon winning three gold medals and four medals in all, as did Quentin Fillon Maillet on the men’s side. For Fillon Maillet this gave him a total of five golds and nine Olympic medals, after winning five medals and two golds at Beijing 2022. He moved to third all-time among Olympic biathletes, behind the legendary Ole Einar Bjørndalen (14 medals, 8 gold) and Martin Fourcade (7 medals, 6 gold), and equalling the nine medals of Johannes Thingnes Bø (5-2-2) and Emil Hegle Svendsen (4-3-2).

The next top medal winners were also French, with Lou Jeanmonnot winning four medals and two golds among the women, followed by Océane Michelon winning two golds and a silver medal. Likewise, Éric Perrot also won two golds and a silver in the men’s events. The only other three-time medalist was Norway’s Maren Kirkeeide, who garnered a full set of women’s medals, one of each color. In team events, France swept and the three relays, the first time since the introduction of the mixed relay at Sochi 2014 that a national team achieved this.