After the first round of relays of the 2024-2025 World Cup season, we look back and ahead at some of the standout numbers and statistics of the the first Biathlon World Cup stage of this winter.

Sweden and France connect four

Both Sweden and France had impressive starts during the first Relay weekend, securing 4 podiums in 4 competitions; with Sweden impressing more than any other nation. Ella Halvarsson and Sara Andersson became Relay World Cup winners in their debut performances. Meanwhile the French men produced a banner performance to secure their first Men Relay victory since 2021 in the World Cup (they did win the 2023 BMW IBU World Championships Men Relay in Oberhof).

Norway score 20th Mixed Relay victory

Thanks to Vebjoern Soerum's incredible comeback in Saturday's Mixed Relay, Norway raced to their 20th Mixed Relay Victory across Olympic Games, World Championships and World Cup competitions. Relive the competition here:

Samuelsson leads the Single Mixed Relay Rankings

For the third time in his career, Sebastian Samuelsson won the Single Mixed Relay at the beginning of his career. When you add his 2021 victory in Nove Mesto, Samuelsson adds up to a total of four World Cup victories in the youngest discipline in biathlon, making him the all-time leader in the format on the men's side. He participated in all four World Cup victories of Sweden in the Single Mixed Relay.

Success for the home team

On Sunday afternoon, the 5th place for the Finnish Men gave the home crowd a reason to cheer. The Finnish men finished in 5th place, equaling their most recent best performance in Hochfilzen 2022. You'll have to scroll back quite far to find a better result: in Lahti (FIN) during the 2001/2002 season (4th place).

Next up: Short Individuals and Sprints

Now that the first round of relays is in the books, the Short Individual competitions kick off the hunt for the Total Score in Kontiolahti, this will be the third time Short Individuals take place in the World Cup. Johannes Thingnes Boe will be in yellow - and he has won the previous two SI's (Canmore 2019 and Antholz 2024), hitting 20/20 targets in both races.

Lisa Vittozzi is forced to sit out the opening World Cup in Kontiolahti due to back issues.

Vittozzi is not the first woman to skip the opening round of competitions, greatly reducing her chances of defending the Total Score. Roeiseland and Dahlmeier also didn't start in the first World Cup after their won the Total Scores.

Although they did not factor in the Total Score battle, both Roeiseland and Dahlmeier still managed to win medals at the World Championships that season.

Take a look below to see how the Total Score Champions performed in the first competitions the following season.