With the first trimester of the BMW IBU World Cup season in the books and the first biathlon competition at the Beijing Olympic Winter Games just 46 days away, it is time to take a brief look at what it takes to get there, who has made it to date and prospects for others yet to qualify.

NOC Quota List

For nations wishing to compete in the OWG, the criteria are pretty simple and straightforward. 37 competitions starting back on 28 November 2020 are being used for the NOC Quota List. The best 12 results in six sprints, one individual, three relays, one mixed relay and one single mixed relay determine the final rankings after the January 14, 2022 Ruhpolding women’s sprint. At that point, in both the men and women’s lists, NOC’s 1-3 receive six quota places, 4-10, five quota places, 11-20, four quota places; those nations beyond 20th in the IBU Qualifying Points List are eligible to be allocated up to two quota places for top-ranked athletes of twelve available on the Points List. If the Host Nation does not receive any places in this twelve and they have qualified-by-points athletes, it can receive up to two places in each gender that will be deducted from the total of twelve. Given that the host nation has further qualified-by-points athletes, it can receive up to four places per gender – with the additional places not being deducted from the remaining 10 spots from IBU Qualifying Points List. All of the top 20 teams receive four start spots in the individual competitions, setting the Sprint and 15km / 20km Individual start fields at 92 competitors, which could jump to 94 should China finish outside the top 20 and should the results deem it, a nation could have five starters in the mass start. Bottom line: 105 (107 if China outside of top 20) Qualification Places for both men and women in Beijing for a total of 210 competitors. The complete rules can be found at:

Olympic Qualifying Quota Rules

Norway, Sweden and France top Provisional Quota Lists

Currently leading the way on the Provisional Men’s Quota List are Norway, France and Sweden, while Sweden, Norway and France top the women’s list, as the top three teams in the race for six quota places.

At this time, Estonia, Latvia and Romania are 21st, 22nd, and 23rd on the outside, looking in on the men’s list, hoping for entries via IBU Qualifying Points list. Korea, Slovenia and China are 21st, 22nd, and 23rd on the women’s list. Without speculating too much, an athlete from a country outside the Top 20 that looks to be in line for a “wild card” spot is Belgium’s Lotte Lie - 17th in the World Cup Total Score, with three top 15 results. Korea’s Timofey Lapshin, 45th in the World Cup Total Score is the highest-ranked athlete on a team not in the men’s top 20.

Tough National Standards

Every nation has its own internal standards that determine who will take their coveted spots in Beijing. Norway and Germany both set the bar high to get an Olympic Winter Games nomination.

Seven Norwegians confirmed

Germany and France

Germany has an equally tough standard: one top eight or two top fifteen World Cup results qualify an athlete. At this stage, four women and three men have reached that standard. The women are Denise Herrmann, Franziska Preuss, Vanessa Voigt, and Vanessa Hinz, while just Hochfilzen sprint winner Johannes Kuehn, Philipp Nawrath, and Benedikt Doll have met that standard. France will give its four starts based on the World Cup Total Score rankings, with Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet, Simon Desthieux and Fabien Claude currently in the top spots. Jacquelin, Fillon Maillet and Desthieux all have victories this season. Anais Bescond, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Anais Chevalier-Bouchet and Julia Simon top the current women’s rankings. None of this group has a victory this season but both Bescond and Simon have finished second on two occasions.

Lisa Theresa Hauser and Simon Eder

Austria’s system requires a top 10 finish or two times between 11th and 16th. In order to complete relay teams, athletes can be nominated directly, and the coaches have the authority to nominate those to individual starts. Accordingly, there is a lot of discretion involved in putting the team together. At this time, Simon Eder and Felix Leitner have met the standard while Lisa Theresa Hauser, fourth in the World Cup Total Score with one BMW IBU World Cup win this season is the sole qualified woman. Simon Eder, with two OWG Relay medals in his career will be making his fourth OWG appearance. Finland has a similar system with a top 16 finish required for individual nominations and a top eight finish for relays. Again, discretion will also be used to fill positions. As of today, Tero Seppala, Olli Hiidensalo, and Mari Eder are the only Finns to meet the standard. Mari Eder will be competing in her fourth OWG.

Pre-qualifiers: Sweden and USA

The USA has two pre-qualified athletes, Susan Dunklee and Clare Egan. The duo were actually the first two US athletes from any sport nominated for the Beijing Games. Jake Brown and Paul Schommer were both added to the US squad after the Annecy Le Grand Bornand BMW IBU World Cup this past weekend.

Question Marks

This list of qualifiers and presumed qualifiers is far from complete, just a sampling of the 210 potential competitors. Still thinking strictly about results, some veterans, likely to be named, but struggling a bit need some high-quality results or consistency in the first part of January to prove their Beijing start-worthiness. Germany’s 2014 20 km individual Silver medalist Erik Lesser sits 33rd in the World Cup Total Score with a single 10th place his top mark so far this season. He runs the leadoff leg on the German men’s relay team so should be in line for a Beijing nod. Sweden’s Jesper Nelin and Peppe Femling, both members of Sweden’s 2018 OWG Gold medal Relay team sit 36th and 49th in the Total Score but still look like the next two in line after Samuelsson and Ponsiluoma. On the women’s list, probably the biggest name with a question mark is Switzerland’s 2104 OWG Women’s 15 km Individual Silver medalist Selina Gasparin. She sits 73rd in the World Cup Total Score, with just one point-scoring competition in the season-opening Oestersund women’s 15 km individual. Both of her sisters, Aita and Elisa on the past two OWG squads sit farther back with Elisa competing last week at the Obertilliach IBU Cup.

In the first two weeks of 2022, the list of athletes Beijing-bound will be clarified and the medal speculation game will begin in earnest!

Photos: IBU/ Christian Manzoni, Evgeny Tumashov