Biathlon
at the XX Olympic Winter Games
VenueCesana San Sicario
Dates11–25 February
No. of events10
Competitors204 from 37 nations

Biathlon at the 2006 Winter Olympics consisted of ten biathlon events. They were held at the Cesana-San Sicario arena. The events began on 11 February and ended on 25 February 2006. Approximately 6,500 spectators were expected by the organizing committee. In these games, biathlon events were open to both men and women but they raced in different distances in their own events.[1]

Men from 28 nations and women from 27 nations qualified to participate in the events. Only seven nations in total took home medals, Germany winning the most (5 gold, 4 silver, 2 bronze). Six biathletes won 3 medals each: Albina Akhatova, Kati Wilhelm, Martina Glagow, Michael Greis, Ole Einar Bjørndalen, and Sven Fischer. Greis won the most gold medals, with a total of three.[2]

Qualification

The top 20 countries at the International Biathlon Union Nations Cup ranking of 2004–05 are permitted to pick four biathletes for each event, and five biathletes for the whole Olympics. The top five may send a sixth biathlete as a reserve. The countries seeded 21st to 28th (27th for women) may send a maximum of one biathlete. Other countries may not send biathletes unless the top 28 countries do not fill their quota. These restrictions apply to each gender, so that the countries who appear in the top 20 in both the men's and the women's list are able to send five men and five women. All entries were to have been submitted to the organizing committee by 30 January 2006.

The following table lists the 28 nations that qualified for the men's events and the 27 nations that qualified for the women's events:

RankMen[3]Women[4] RankMenWomen
1 Norway (NOR) Russia (RUS)15 Estonia (EST) Japan (JPN)
2 Germany (GER) Germany (GER)16 Slovenia (SLO) Romania (ROU)
3 Russia (RUS) Norway (NOR)17 United States (USA) Finland (FIN)
4 France (FRA) France (FRA)18 Slovakia (SVK) Canada (CAN)
5 Austria (AUT) China (CHN)19 Canada (CAN) Moldova (MDA)
6 Belarus (BLR) Belarus (BLR)20 Japan (JPN) Latvia (LAT)
7 Sweden (SWE) Slovenia (SLO)21 Great Britain (GBR) Sweden (SWE)
8 Ukraine (UKR) Czech Republic (CZE)22 China (CHN) Kazakhstan (KAZ)
9 Czech Republic (CZE) Bulgaria (BUL)23 Kazakhstan (KAZ) Lithuania (LTU)
10 Poland (POL) Italy (ITA)24 Bulgaria (BUL) Estonia (EST)
11 Italy (ITA) Slovakia (SVK)25 Lithuania (LTU) Great Britain (GBR)
12 Switzerland (SUI) Ukraine (UKR)26 Australia (AUS) Bosnia and Herzegovina (BIH)
13 Latvia (LAT) Poland (POL)27 Romania (ROU) Austria (AUT)
14 Finland (FIN) United States (USA)28 Hungary (HUN)

Medal summary

Medal table

Of the thirty-seven competing nations, seven of them took home all the medals. With over double the medals of any other nation, Germany ranked number one.

RankNationGoldSilverBronzeTotal
1 Germany (GER)54211
2 Russia (RUS)2125
3 France (FRA)2024
4 Sweden (SWE)1102
5 Norway (NOR)0336
6 Poland (POL)0101
7 Ukraine (UKR)0011
Totals (7 entries)10101030

Men's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Individual
 Michael Greis
 Germany		54:23.0 Ole Einar Bjørndalen
 Norway		54:39.0 Halvard Hanevold
 Norway		55:31.9
Sprint
 Sven Fischer
 Germany		26:11.6 Halvard Hanevold
 Norway		26:19.8 Frode Andresen
 Norway		26:31.3
Pursuit
 Vincent Defrasne
 France		35:20.2 Ole Einar Bjørndalen
 Norway		35:22.9 Sven Fischer
 Germany		35:35.8
Mass start
 Michael Greis
 Germany		47:20.0 Tomasz Sikora
 Poland		47:26.3 Ole Einar Bjørndalen
 Norway		47:32.9
Relay
  Germany (GER)
Ricco Groß
Michael Rösch
Sven Fischer
Michael Greis		1:21:51.5  Russia (RUS)
Ivan Tcherezov
Sergei Tchepikov
Pavel Rostovtsev
Nikolay Kruglov, Jr.		1:22:12.4  France (FRA)
Julien Robert
Vincent Defrasne
Ferréol Cannard
Raphaël Poirée		1:22:35.1

Women's events

Event Gold Silver Bronze
Individual
 Svetlana Ishmouratova
 Russia		49:24.1 Martina Glagow
 Germany		50:34.9 Albina Akhatova
 Russia		50:55.0
Sprint
 Florence Baverel-Robert
 France		22:31.4 Anna Carin Olofsson
 Sweden		22:33.8 Lilia Efremova
 Ukraine		22:38.0
Pursuit
 Kati Wilhelm
 Germany		36:43.6 Martina Glagow
 Germany		37:57.2 Albina Akhatova
 Russia		38:05.0
Mass start
 Anna Carin Olofsson
 Sweden		40:36.5 Kati Wilhelm
 Germany		40:55.3 Uschi Disl
 Germany		41:18.4
Relay
  Russia (RUS)
Anna Bogaliy-Titovets
Svetlana Ishmouratova
Olga Zaytseva
Albina Akhatova		1:16:12.5  Germany (GER)
Martina Glagow
Andrea Henkel
Katrin Apel
Kati Wilhelm		1:17:03.2  France (FRA)
Delphyne Peretto
Florence Baverel-Robert
Sylvie Becaert
Sandrine Bailly		1:18:38.7

Olga Pyleva of Russia originally placed second in the women's individual race, but was found to be in violation of anti-doping rules when she tested positive for carphedon, and she was then disqualified.[5]

Participating nations

Thirty-seven nations qualified biathletes to compete in the events. Below is a list of the competing nations; in parentheses are the number of national competitors.

See also

References

  1. ↑ "Torino 2006 Official Report - Biathlon" (PDF). Torino Organizing Committee. LA84 Foundation. March 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-06-12. Retrieved September 21, 2009.
  2. ↑ "Biathlon at the 2006 Torino Winter Games". Sports Reference. Archived from the original on 17 April 2020. Retrieved 9 June 2019.
  3. ↑ Men's Nation Cup Score Final Result after 14 competitions Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, from biathlonworld.com, retrieved 19 January 2006
  4. ↑ Women's Nation Cup Score Final Result after 14 competitions Archived September 29, 2007, at the Wayback Machine, from biathlonworld.com, retrieved 19 January 2006
  5. ↑ "Russian biathlete suspended 2 years after failed drug test". Associated Press. USA Today. February 17, 2006. Retrieved September 10, 2009.
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