Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics
| Biathlon at the XXII Olympic Winter Games | |
 | |
| Venue | Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex, Krasnaya Polyana, Russia |
|---|---|
| Dates | 8–22 February 2014 |
| No. of events | 11 |
| Competitors | 220 Quota limit |
Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | men | women | ||
| Sprint | men | women | ||
| Pursuit | men | women | ||
| Mass start | men | women | ||
| Relay | men | mixed | women | |
Biathlon at the 2014 Winter Olympics was held at the Laura Biathlon & Ski Complex near Krasnaya Polyana, Russia. The eleven events took place between 8–22 February 2014.[1]
For the first time ever, a mixed relay event was staged after being voted onto the Olympic program in 2011.[2]
Competition schedule
The following is the competition schedule for all eleven events.[3]
All times are (UTC+4).
| Date | Time | Event |
|---|---|---|
| 8 February | 18:30 | Men's 10 km sprint |
| 9 February | 18:30 | Women's 7.5 km sprint |
| 10 February | 19:00 | Men's 12.5 km pursuit |
| 11 February | 19:00 | Women's 10 km pursuit |
| 13 February | 18:00 | Men's 20 km individual |
| 14 February | 18:00 | Women's 15 km individual |
| 17 February | 19:00 | Women's 12.5 km mass start |
| 18 February | 14:30 | Men's 15 km mass start |
| 19 February | 18:30 | Mixed 4 x 6 km / 7.5 km relay |
| 21 February | 18:30 | Women's 4 x 6 km relay |
| 22 February | 18:30 | Men's 4 x 7.5 km relay |
Medal summary
Notably absent from the medals for biathlon in the 2014 Games were the German women who had won six medals in 2006 and five in 2010. The men's team meanwhile recovered from a poor Games in Vancouver to achieve two silver medals. France's women, who had won three medals in 2010, also missed the podium, as did Canada, despite some promising performances. Sweden's men were also expected to win a medal but they too missed out.
13 athletes went home with two or more medals with five athletes winning three medals each. Belarus's Darya Domracheva won three gold medals to be the most successful biathlete at the Games, while France's Martin Fourcade was the most successful male winning two gold and one silver medal. 2012/13 women's World Cup winner Tora Berger won a medal of each color, while team-mate Tiril Eckhoff won one gold and two bronze at her first Games. Czech athlete Ondřej Moravec won two silver and one bronze.
The biathlon portion was marred by German biathlete Evi Sachenbacher-Stehle's positive doping test. Sachenbacher-Stehle had finished fourth in both the mass start and the mixed relay but was disqualified from both events after testing positive for the banned substance methylhexanamine.
Medal table
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 |  Norway (NOR) | 3 | 1 | 2 | 6 |
| 2 |  Belarus (BLR) | 3 | 0 | 1 | 4 |
| 3 |  France (FRA) | 2 | 1 | 1 | 4 |
| 4 |  Russia (RUS) | 1 | 2 | 1 | 4 |
| 5 |  Ukraine (UKR) | 1 | 0 | 1 | 2 |
| 6 |  Slovakia (SVK) | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 |  Czech Republic (CZE) | 0 | 3 | 2 | 5 |
| 8 |  Germany (GER) | 0 | 2 | 0 | 2 |
| 9 |  Austria (AUT) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 10 |  Switzerland (SUI) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 11 |  Italy (ITA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
 Slovenia (SLO) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 | |
| Total | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 |
Men's events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual |
Martin Fourcade France | 49:31.7 | Erik Lesser Germany | 49:43.9 | Evgeniy Garanichev Russia | 50:06.2 |
| Sprint |
Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 24:33.5 | Dominik Landertinger Austria | 24:34.8 | Jaroslav Soukup Czech Republic | 24:39.2 |
| Pursuit |
Martin Fourcade France | 33:48.6 | Ondřej Moravec Czech Republic | 34:02.7 | Jean-Guillaume Béatrix France | 34:12.8 |
| Mass start |
Emil Hegle Svendsen Norway | 42:29.1 | Martin Fourcade France | 42:29.1 | Ondřej Moravec Czech Republic | 42:42.9 |
| Relay |
Russia (RUS) Alexey Volkov Evgeny Ustyugov Dmitry Malyshko Anton Shipulin | 1:12:15.9 | Germany (GER) Erik Lesser Daniel Böhm Arnd Peiffer Simon Schempp | 1:12:19.4 | Austria (AUT) Christoph Sumann Daniel Mesotitsch Simon Eder Dominik Landertinger | 1:12:45.7 |
Women's events
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual |
Darya Domracheva Belarus | 43:19.12 | Selina Gasparin Switzerland | 44:35.3 | Nadezhda Skardino Belarus | 44:57.8 |
| Sprint |
Anastasiya Kuzmina Slovakia | 21:06.8 | Olga Vilukhina Russia | 21:26.7 | Vita Semerenko Ukraine | 21:28.5 |
| Pursuit |
Darya Domracheva Belarus | 29:30.7 | Tora Berger Norway | 30:08.3 | Teja Gregorin Slovenia | 30:12.7 |
| Mass start |
Darya Domracheva Belarus | 35:25.6 | Gabriela Soukalová Czech Republic | 35:45.8 | Tiril Eckhoff Norway | 35:52.9 |
| Relay |
Ukraine (UKR) Vita Semerenko Juliya Dzhyma Valentyna Semerenko Olena Pidhrushna | 1:10:02.5 | Russia (RUS) Yana Romanova Olga Zaitseva Ekaterina Shumilova Olga Vilukhina | 1:10:28.9 | Norway (NOR) Fanny Welle-Strand Horn Tiril Eckhoff Ann Kristin Aafeldt Flatland Tora Berger | 1:10:40.1 |
Mixed event
| Event | Gold | Silver | Bronze | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Relay |
Norway (NOR) Tora Berger Tiril Eckhoff Ole Einar Bjørndalen Emil Hegle Svendsen | 1:09:17.0 | Czech Republic (CZE) Veronika Vítková Gabriela Soukalová Jaroslav Soukup Ondřej Moravec | 1:09:49.6 | Italy (ITA) Dorothea Wierer Karin Oberhofer Dominik Windisch Lukas Hofer | 1:10:15.2 |
Qualification
A total quota of 220 athletes were allowed to compete at the Games (113 men and 107 women). Countries were assigned quotas using a combination of the Nation Cup scores of their top 3 athletes in the individual sprint and relay competitions at the 2012 and 2013 World Championships.[4]
References
- ↑ "Laura Cross-country Ski & Biathlon Center". SOOC. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ↑ "New events for the 2014 Olympic Winter Games in Sochi" (PDF). International Olympic Committee. Retrieved 10 November 2012.
- ↑ "Biathlon Schedule and Results". SOOC. Retrieved 10 January 2013.
- ↑ "Qualification Systems for XXII Olympic Winter Games, Sochi 2014" (PDF). International Biathlon Union. December 2011. Retrieved 10 November 2012.