In less than 20 years Lenzerheide’s Roland Arena has grown from the simplest origins of a basic shooting range to the world-class venue and training facility that hosts this year’s BMW IBU World Championships.

Starting in 2006

This Cinderella story began in 2006 when the Bual Biathlon Center Association launched a project to build a biathlon facility in conjunction with the local municipality. At the time, Swiss Biathlon languished behind neighboring nations both in facilities and competitiveness. The Swiss Biathlon Team at the 2006 Torino Olympic Winter Games consisted of two athletes, Simon Hallenbarter and Matthias Simmen; Simmen’s 23rd in the pursuit was the team’s highlight.

The Swiss squad had no home, i.e. training facility to help them climb into World Cup contenders. By 2013, the Lenzerheide facility through the support and guidance of investors Carola and Michael Hartweg was growing. It transformed into the Biathlon Arena Lenzerheide with a 30-point shooting range, competition building and six competition loops ranging from 1.4 to 4 km.

A humble beginning

Our tale begins in 2006 when local coach Ursin Fravi pushed for the area to have a dedicated area for biathlon. The project was picked up and initially began as a shooting range. The structure grew but it needed more, and that's where the help of outside investment - amongst others from Michael and Carola Hartweg, the parents of Niklas - to get ready for something more, something that the Swiss team could use

Tour de Ski; a New Era

Now the Swiss team had a real home, a constantly evolving venue, for training and competitions. December 31, 2013 and January 1, 2014, was the dawn of a new era with the first international competitions in Lenzerheide, two stages of the prestigious Tour de Ski.

IBU “A License” and international biathlon competitions

By late 2016, the beating heart of the Arena, the Nordic House, with accommodations, changing and meeting rooms was completed. That set up the next stage for this budding biathlon venue when in the summer of 2017 Lenzerheide received a coveted IBU “A License.” Four months later, it hosted an IBU Cup, the first international biathlon competition since the 2006 European Cup in Gurnigel.

Less than a year later, Biathlon Arena Lenzerheide became the “National Biathlon Performance Center.” The IBU Cup was followed by the 2020 IBU YJWCH, drawing 7,000+ spectators who saw today’s rising Swiss World Cup stars Amy Baserga and Sebastian Stalder win medals. The following November, the IBU’s premier non-Olympic event, the 2025 BMW IBU World Championships was awarded to the venue that did not exist 14 years earlier.

A vital change

February 2021 was a watershed moment in Lenzerheide, sponsorship arrived, rebranding Biathlon Arena Lenzerheide to Roland Arena. Swiss-Ski took over management from Hartweg. Hosting the 2023 IBU Open European Championships and Switzerland’s first-ever BMW IBU World Cup last December brings us to this week’s Championships.

Ready to Shine

The little training facility with the most basic infrastructure has grown up and is ready to shine as host of the 2025 BMW IBU World Championships with a 7500-spectator tribune, great snow conditions, an expansive team compound, television and media facilities, and the best biathletes on the planet ready to battle for medals. It's a story for the ages.

Photos: IBU/Vianney Thibaut, Christian Manzoni