Biathlon Competitions

The programme of competitions has been updated for the previous Winter Universiades to arouse more interest among spectators and for TV broadcasting, and FISU has always endeavoured to keep developing the biathlon competition with IBU.

Today’s biathlon competitions are organised for men and women as follows:

At the 2009 Winter Universiade in Harbin, the competition included Mixed Relay for the first time. This gave countries with fewer competitors more opportunities to participate.

The competitions are always supervised by the FISU Technical Chair and the IBU Technical Delegate, who chair all technical meetings concerned. All tracks must follow the requirements of IBU and get an IBU license.

The History of Biathlon in FISU

As a sport that has its roots in the army, biathlon has become a very exiting sport for university students. In February 1983, the FISU Winter Universiade was staged in Sofia, Bulgaria. The global character of the games was reflected in the number of disciplines on the programme and the biathlon competition was included in the sports programme for the first time. Seven countries and 34 male athletes competed. The Soviets sailed through the competition and won the first three places. Until today’s competitions Soviet students and students form Eastern European countries have kept showing their international class. Many Olympians have participated in Winter Universiades such as: Olga Zaytseva (RUS), an Olympic Champion in Torino 2006 and Vancouver 2010; Tomasz Sikora (POL), ranked 2nd  at the 2006 OWG in Torino; Olga Nazarova, ranked 6th and 7th at the 2006 OWG in Torino; and many others, who achieved excellent results in World Championships and World Cup competitions. The biathlon competition has already been held 14 times at the Winter Universiade from 1983 to 2017, with the exception of 1985, 1987, 1991 and 1995.

Men's 20km Individual at Almaty 2017 Winter Universiade

Women's 15km Individual at Almaty 2017 Winter Universiade

Previous Events 

• 2019 - 29th Winter Universiade - Krasnoyarsk (RUS)
• 2017 - 28th Winter Universiade - Almaty (KAZ)
• 2015 - 27th Winter Universiade - Strbske Pleso / Osrblie (SVK)
• 2013 - 26th Winter Universiade - Trentino (ITA)
• 2011 - 25th Winter Universiade - Erzurum (TUR)
• 2009 - 24th Winter Universiade - Harbin (CHN)
• 2007 - 23rd Winter Universiade - Torino (ITA)
• 2005 - 22nd Winter Universiade - Innsbruck (AUT)
• 2003 - 21st Winter Universiade - Tarvisio (ITA)
• 2001 - 20th Winter Universiade - Zakopane (POL)
• 1999 - 19th Winter Universiade - Poprad/Tatry (SVK)
• 1997 - 18th Winter Universiade - Chonju/Muju (KOR)
• 1993 - 16th Winter Universiade - Zakopane (POL)
• 1989 - 14th Winter Universiade - Sofia (BUL)
• 1983 - 11th Winter Universiade - Sofia (BUL)