2025–26 Biathlon World Cup
Biathlon competition
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The 2025–26 Biathlon World Cup (official: BMW IBU World Cup Biathlon), organised by the International Biathlon Union (IBU), was the 49th official World Cup season for men and 44th edition for women as the highest level of international biathlon competitions.[1]
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| 2025–26 Biathlon World Cup | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Discipline | Men | Women | |
 Overall |
 Éric Perrot (1) |
Lou Jeanmonnot (1) | |
 U23 |
 Isak Leknes Frey (1) |
Maren Kirkeeide (1) | |
 Individual |
Éric Perrot (1) |
Lou Jeanmonnot (2) | |
| Sprint |
Sturla Holm Lægreid (1) |
Lou Jeanmonnot (1) | |
| Pursuit |
Éric Perrot (1) |
Lou Jeanmonnot (2) | |
| Mass start |
Éric Perrot (1) |
Julia Simon (2) | |
| Relay |
Norway (16) |
France (5) | |
| Nations Cup |
Norway (21) |
 Sweden (1) | |
| Mixed |
Norway (10) | ||
| Competition | |||
| Edition | 49th | 44th | |
| Locations | 10 | 10 | |
| Individual | 21 | 21 | |
| Relay/Team | 5 | 5 | |
| Mixed | 6 | 6 | |
| Rescheduled | – | 1 | |
The season started on 29 November 2025 in Östersund, Sweden and concluded on 22 March 2026 in Oslo Holmenkollen, Norway.[2]
A major highlight of the season was the 2026 Winter Olympics, held in Milan–Cortina, Italy, from 8 to 21 February, with the biathlon events taking place in Antholz-Anterselva. The results from these competitions will not be included in the World Cup standings.
Sturla Holm Lægreid from Norway and Franziska Preuß from Germany were the reigning champions from the previous season. Lægreid finished the season in 2nd place and Preuß ended her career at Winter Olympics in Antholz-Anterselva, placing 16th overall in the season standings.
The new World Cup winners for the season, both claiming the title for the first time and representing France, were Éric Perrot and Lou Jeanmonnot (having finished 2nd in the overall standings in each of the previous two seasons). This marked the first time in World Cup history that both the men’s and women’s overall titles were won by athletes from France in the same season.
Season overview
The men's sprint in Annecy–Le Grand-Bornand was regarded as the closest men's sprint in biathlon history, as the top six athletes finished within less than nine seconds of each other.[3]
On 23 December 2025, 27-year-old Norwegian biathlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken was found dead in his hotel room during a training camp in Italy. At the time of his death, he was ranked 13th in the overall standings.[4][5] In his memory, he was included on the start list with bib number 1 for the sprint in Oberhof.[6]
As a result of victory in the pursuit race in Oberhof, Tommaso Giacomel took the lead in the Overall World Cup standings, becoming the first Italian since January 1992 and only the third Italian man in the history of the World Cup to wear yellow bib.
During the sprint on 16 January in Ruhpolding, Anne de Besche became the first Danish woman to start in a World Cup event. She finished the race in 78th place.
Map of world cup hosts
| Östersund |
   Olympic Games World CupLocation of all 10 World Cup hosts of the season (including Antholz-Anterselva – venue of the 2026 Winter Olympics) |
 Nové Město na Moravě |
|---|---|---|
 |
 | |
 Hochfilzen |
 Antholz-Anterselva | |
 |
 | |
| Annecy–Le Grand-Bornand |
 Kontiolahti | |
 |
 | |
 Oberhof |
 Otepää | |
 |
 | |
| Ruhpolding |
Oslo Holmenkollen | |
 |
 |
Calendar
| Stage | Location | Date | Individual / Short individual |
Sprint | Pursuit | Mass start | Relay | Mixed relay | Single mixed relay | Details |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Östersund |
29 November–7 December | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | details | |
| 2 | Hochfilzen |
12–14 December | ● | ● | ● | details | ||||
| 3 | Annecy–Le Grand-Bornand |
18–21 December | ● | ● | ● | details | ||||
| 4 | Oberhof |
8–11 January | ● | ● | ● | details | ||||
| 5 | Ruhpolding |
14–18 January | ● | ● | ● | details | ||||
| 6 | Nové Město na Moravě |
22–25 January | ● | ● | ● | ● | details | |||
| OG | Antholz-Anterselva |
8–21 February | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | ● | Olympic Games[a] | |
| 7 | Kontiolahti |
5–8 March | ● | ● | ● | details | ||||
| 8 | Otepää |
12–15 March | ● | ● | ● | ● | details | |||
| 9 | Oslo Holmenkollen |
19–22 March | ● | ● | ● | details | ||||
| Total: 69 (31 men's, 31 women's, 7 mixed) | 4 | 8 | 8 | 5 | 6 | 4 | 3 | |||
Men
Calendar
Relay – 4 x 7.5 km
| No. | Date | Place (In brackets Stage) |
Winner | Second | Third | Leader (After competition) |
R. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 November 2025 | Östersund (1) |
Norway
|
France
|
Sweden
|
Norway |
[33] |
| 2 | 14 December 2025 | Hochfilzen (2) |
Norway
|
France
|
Sweden
|
[34] | |
| 3 | 11 January 2026 | Oberhof (4) |
Norway
|
France
|
Sweden
|
[35] | |
| 4 | 15 January 2026 | Ruhpolding (5) |
France
|
Norway
|
Germany
|
[36] | |
| — | 17 February 2026 | Antholz-Anterselva (OG) |
 France
|
 Norway
|
 Sweden
|
not included in the World Cup | [37] |
| 5 | 7 March 2026 | Kontiolahti (7) |
Norway
|
France
|
Sweden
|
Norway |
[38] |
Overall leaders
| Holder | Date | Place(s) | Number of competitions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | ||||||
| Johan-Olav Botn |
3 December 2025 – 8 January 2026 | Östersund – Oberhof |
9 | |||
| Tommaso Giacomel |
10 January 2026 – 22 January 2026 | Oberhof – Nové Město na Moravě |
4 | |||
| Éric Perrot |
25 January 2026 – 22 March 2026 | Nové Město na Moravě – Oslo Holmenkollen |
8 | |||
| Under 23 | ||||||
| Jakob Kulbin |
3 December 2025 | Östersund |
1 | |||
| Isak Leknes Frey |
6 December 2025 – 22 March 2026 | Östersund – Oslo Holmenkollen |
20 | |||
Standings
Overall
|
Under 23
|
|
Individual
|
Sprint
|
Pursuit
|
Mass start
|
Relay
|
Nations Cup
|
Women
Calendar
Relay – 4 x 6 km
| No. | Date | Place (In brackets Stage) |
Winner | Second | Third | Leader (After competition) |
R. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | 29 November 2025 | Östersund (1) |
France
|
Italy
|
Czech Republic
|
France |
[78] |
| 2 | 13 December 2025 | Hochfilzen (2) |
Sweden
|
Norway
|
Germany
|
Sweden |
[79] |
| 3 | 10 January 2026 | Oberhof (4) |
France
|
Norway
|
Germany
|
France |
[80] |
| 4 | 14 January 2026 | Ruhpolding (5) |
Norway
|
Italy
|
Sweden
|
[81] | |
| — | 18 February 2026 | Antholz-Anterselva (OG) |
France
|
Sweden
|
Norway
|
not included in the World Cup | [82] |
| 5 | 8 March 2026 | Kontiolahti (7) |
Sweden
|
France
|
Norway
|
France |
[83] |
Overall leaders
| Holder | Date | Place(s) | Number of competitions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Individual | ||||||
| Dorothea Wierer |
2 December 2025 | Östersund |
1 | |||
| Suvi Minkkinen |
5 December 2025 – 7 December 2025 | Östersund |
2 | |||
| Anna Magnusson |
12 December 2025 – 18 December 2025 | Hochfilzen – Annecy |
3 | |||
| Lou Jeanmonnot |
20 December 2025 – 22 March 2026 | Annecy – Oslo Holmenkollen |
15 | |||
| Under 23 | ||||||
| Maren Kirkeeide |
2 December 2025 – 22 March 2026 | Östersund – Oslo Holmenkollen |
21 | |||
Standings
Overall
|
Under 23
|
|
Individual
|
Sprint
|
Pursuit
|
Mass start
|
Relay
|
Nations Cup
|
Mixed Relay
| No. | Date | Place (In brackets Stage) |
Winner | Second | Third | Leader (After competition) |
R. |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Single Mixed Relay – 6 km + 7.5 km | |||||||
| 1 | 30 November 2025 | Östersund (1) |
Sweden
|
Norway
|
France
|
Sweden |
[97] |
| 3 | 24 January 2026 | Nové Město (6) |
Finland
|
France
|
Norway
|
France |
[98] |
| 5 | 15 March 2026 | Otepää (8) |
Norway
|
Sweden
|
Finland
|
Norway |
[99] |
| Mixed Relay – 4 x 6 km | |||||||
| 2 | 30 November 2025 | Östersund (1) |
France
|
Italy
|
Norway
|
France |
[100] |
| 4 | 24 January 2026 | Nové Město (6) |
Italy
|
France
|
Czech Republic
|
[101] | |
| — | 8 February 2026 | Antholz-Anterselva (OG) |
France
|
Italy
|
Germany
|
not included in the World Cup |
[102] |
| 6 | 15 March 2026 | Otepää (8) |
Sweden
|
 Switzerland
|
 United States
|
Norway |
[103] |
Standings
Podium table by nation
Table showing the World Cup podium places (gold–1st place, silver–2nd place, bronze–3rd place) by the countries represented by the athletes.
final standings after all 58 competitions.
| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Norway | 18 | 10 | 14 | 42 |
| 2 | France | 16 | 23 | 13 | 52 |
| 3 | Sweden | 12 | 8 | 14 | 34 |
| 4 | Italy | 9 | 7 | 5 | 21 |
| 5 | Finland | 2 | 6 | 1 | 9 |
| 6 | Austria | 1 | 0 | 0 | 1 |
| 7 | Germany | 0 | 2 | 6 | 8 |
| 8 | United States | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 9 | Switzerland | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 10 | Czech Republic | 0 | 0 | 3 | 3 |
| 11 |  Slovakia | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (11 entries) | 58 | 58 | 58 | 174 | |
Points distribution
The table shows the number of points won in the 2025–26 Biathlon World Cup for men and women. Relay events do not impact individual rankings.
| Place | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | 39 | 40 |
| Individual | 90 | 75 | 65 | 55 | 50 | 45 | 41 | 37 | 34 | 31 | 30 | 29 | 28 | 27 | 26 | 25 | 24 | 23 | 22 | 21 | 20 | 19 | 18 | 17 | 16 | 15 | 14 | 13 | 12 | 11 | 10 | 9 | 8 | 7 | 6 | 5 | 4 | 3 | 2 | 1 |
| Sprint | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Pursuit | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Mass Start | 18 | 16 | 14 | 12 | 10 | 8 | 6 | 4 | 2 |
Achievements
- First World Cup career victory
|
|
- First World Cup podium
|
|
- Team
United States – Mixed Relay in Otepää – 3rd place
- Number of wins this season (in brackets are all-time wins)
|
|
Retirements
The following notable biathletes, who competed in the World Cup, retired during or after the 2025–26 season:
|
|
See also
- 2025–26 Biathlon IBU Cup (as the second highest competition series of IBU).
- 2026 Winter Olympics
- 2026 IBU Open European Championships
- 2026 IBU Junior Open European Championships
- Biathlon Junior World Championships 2026