The International Biathlon Union today announced its 2026-2030 World Cup calendar featuring a number of exciting innovations to maximise fan engagement, to future-proof the sport and safeguard athlete welfare whilst keeping the traditions that have been fundamental in biathlon’s rise to Europe’s most watched TV wintersport.

The IBU confirmed the allocation of the IBU World Cup biathlon hosts across the four seasons from 2026/2027 to 2029/2030 with the World Championships already confirmed for Otepää (EST) in 2027, Hochfilzen (AUT) in 2028 and Oslo (NOR) in 2029 before the Olympic competitions in the French Alps in 2030.

For the first time, in the 2026/2027 and 2028/2029 seasons, a new two-day World Cup event will be held in Pokljuka (SLO) on the weekend at the end of December/ start of the New Year when fan engagement in winter sport is at its peak.

To protect athlete welfare and maintain the number of competition days, the introduction of this two-day event will be compensated by removing the opening weekend of the season in November in those two seasons. The two week break in December will also be respected following consultation with athletes and teams ensuring the requisite time for rest, recovery and training.

The World Cup held in Oberhof, Germany, will be moved from its traditional spot in the first week of January to the end of February/early March, taking advantage of the more favourable weather conditions towards the end of the season. In the 2028/2029 season, the World Cup in Oberhof will follow immediately after the Oslo World Championships with the usual post-World Championships break then taken ahead of the World Cup travelling to the USA and Canada.

IBU President Olle Dahlin said:

“We are delighted to confirm our hosts for the next four seasons and provide our athletes, fans, broadcasters and partners with certainty of fantastic competitions in the years to come. We are fortunate to have so many excellent biathlon hosts and to be in a such a strong position that allows us to test new setups to guarantee that our sport is able to answer the challenges of the future. At the IBU we are always looking at ways we can innovate to ensure that biathlon continues to grow and fulfills its enormous potential.”

IBU Sport & Event Director Daniel Böhm said:

“Developing the biathlon calendar is a delicate balancing act as we need to deliver competitions that prioritise our athletes and teams but also create the very best spectator and viewer experience, respect commitments to sustainability and mastering logistics challenges. We believe that the 2026-2030 calendar provides a good balance of traditional events with new events, such as the New Year weekend in Pokljuka and a February/March World Cup in Oberhof, which will allow us to follow the snow, maximise engagement while still putting athletes front and centre.”

Photo: IBU photopool