The Biathlon World Championships continues today in Lenzerheide, Switzerland, with the 4×7.5km relay for men. Discover how the race works and who the top contenders for gold are!

The men’s relay is 4×7.5km. The competition starts with a mass start for the first member in each team. Then they run one by one till all four have completed their leg. Each leg has two shootings, one in the prone position and one standing.

Athletes have three spares to load manually in case of missed shots. If a target(s) remains standing after the three spares, the athlete goes to the 150m penalty loop.

It takes 8-10 seconds extra to load and shoot a spare round. The penalty loop takes normally 20-25 seconds extra. So, it costs a lot if you are not hitting 5 out of 5. And if you have to go to the penalty loop you normally loose contact with the leading teams. This time is always hard to take back.

FORMER WORLD CHAMPIONS

• 1966    NOR, (Jon Istad, Ragnar Tveiten, Ivar Nordkild, Olav Jordet)
• 1967    NOR, (Jon Istad, Ragnar Tveiten, Ola Wærhaug, Olav Jordet)
• 1969    SOV, (Aleksandr Tikhonov, Viktor Mamatov, Rinnat Safin, Vladimir Gundartsev)
• 1970    SOV, (Aleksandr Tikhonov, Viktor Mamatov, Rinnat Safin, Aleksandr Ushakov)
• 1971    SOV, (Aleksandr Tikhonov, Viktor Mamatov, Rinnat Safin, Nazim Mukhitov)
• 1973    SOV, (Aleksandr Tikhonov, Rinnat Safin, Jurij Kolmakov, Gennadij Kovalijov)
• 1974    SOV, (Aleksandr Tikhonov, Alekandr Ushakov, Nikolaj Kruglov, Jurij Kolmakov)
• 1975    FIN, (Henrik Flöjt, Simo Halonen, Juhani Suutarinen, Heikki Ikola)
• 1977    SOV, (Aleksandr Tikhonov, Aleksandr Jelizarov, Aleksandr Ushakov, Nikolaj Kruglov)
• 1978    DDR, (Manfred Beer, Frank Ullrich, Kalus Siebert, Eberhard Rösch)
• 1979    DDR, (Manfred Beer, Kalus Sieberg, Frank Ullrich, Eberhard Rösch)
• 1981    DDR, (Mathias Jung, Matthias Jacob, Frank Ullrich, Eberhard Rösch)
• 1982    DDR, (Frank Ullrich, Mathias Jung, Matthias Jacob, Bernd Hellmich)
• 1983    SOV, (Algimantas Salna, Jurij Kasjkarov, Piotr Miloradov, Sergej Bulygin)
• 1985    SOV, (Jurij Kasjkarov, Algimanta Salna, Sergej Bulygin, Andrej Senkov)
• 1986    SOV, (Jurij Kasjkarov, Dmitrij Vasiliev, Valeri Medvedtsev, Sergej Bulygin)
• 1987    DDR, (Fran-Peter Rötsch, Matthias Jacob, André Sehmisch, Jürgen Wirth)
• 1989    DDR, (Frank Luck, André Sehmisch, Birk Anders, Frank-Peter Rötsch)
• 1990    ITA, (Pieralberto Carrara, Wilfried Pallhuber, Johann Passler, Andreas Zingerle)
• 1991    GER, (Ricco Groß, Frank Luck, Mark Kirchner, Fritz Fischer)
• 1993    ITA, (Wilfried Pallhuber, Johann Passler, Pieralberto Carrara, Andreas Zingerle)
• 1995    GER, (Ricco Groß, Mark Kirchner, Frank Luck, Sven Fischer)
• 1996    RUS, (Viktor Maigurov, Vladimir Dratchev, Sergej Tarasov, Aleksei Kobelev)
• 1997    GER, (Ricco Groß, Peter Sendel, Sven Fischer, Frank Luck)
• 1999    BLR, (Aleksei Aidarov, Piotr Ivashko, Vadim Sashurin, Oleg Ryshenkov)
• 2000    RUS, (Viktor Maigurov, Sergei Rozhkov, Vladimir Dratchev, Pavel Rostovtsev)
• 2001    FRA, (Gilles Marguet, Vincent Defrasne, Julien Robert, Raphael Poiree)
• 2003    GER, (Peter Sendel, Sven Fischer, Ricco Groß, Frank Luck)
• 2004    GER, (Frank Luck, Ricco Groß, Sven Fischer, Michael Greis)
• 2005    NOR, (Halvard Hanevold, Stian Eckhoff, Egil Gjelland, Ole Einar Bjørndalen)
• 2007    RUS, (Ivan Tcherezov, Maksim Tchudov, Dmitri Jaroshenko, Maksim Tchudov)
• 2008    RUS, (Ivan Tcherezov, Nikolai Krugolov, Dmitri Jaroshenko, Maksim Tchudov)
• 2009    NOR, (Emil Hegle Svendsen, Lars Berger, Halvard Hanevold, Ole Einar Bjørndalen)
• 2011    NOR, (Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Alexander Os, Emil Hegle Svendsen, Tarjei Bø)
• 2012    NOR, (Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Rune Brattsveen, Tarjei Bø, Emil Hegle Svendsen)
• 2013    NOR, (Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Henrik L’Abée-Lund, Tarjei Bø, Emil Hegle Svendsen)
• 2015    GER, (Erik Lesser, Daniel Böhm, Arnd Peiffer, Simon Schempp)
• 2016    NOR, (Ole Einar Bjørndalen, Tarjei Bø, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Emil Hegle Svendsen)
• 2017    RUS, (Aleksei Volkov, Maksim Tsvetkov, Anton Babikov, Anton Shipulin)
• 2019    NOR, (Lars Helge Birkeland, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Tarjei Bø, Johannes Thingnes Bø)
• 2020    FRA, (Emilien Jacquelin, Martin Fourcade, Simon Desthieux, Quentin Fillon Maillet)
• 2021    NOR, (Sturla Holm Lægreid, Tarjei Bø, Johannes Thingnes Bø, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen)
• 2023    FRA, (Antonin Guigonnat, Fabien Claude, Emilien Jacquelin, Quentin Fillon Maillet)
• 2024    SWE, (Viktor Brandt, Jesper Nelin, Martin Ponsiluoma, Sebastian Samuelsson)

FAVORITES

FRANCE

Having been the outstanding team in this Winter’s relays. This has given confidence, and France will be the favorites ahead of Norway. It’s a little strange if you look at the individual results, but in the relay, you have four athletes who need to do it together.

NORWAY

The individual results give you the impression that Norway is nearly unbeatable here. But they have not been good in the relays this Winter. The Norwegians have been much more in the penalty loop than normal, and they have been a long way behind France.

SWEDEN

Reigning champions. Also surprise winners of the Olympics in 2018. If they come through with their fourth man, all of Nelin, Ponsiluoma and Samuelsson have experience from winning both the WCH and the OWG. But they must improve the shooting from what they have shown earlier this year.

OUTSIDERS

GERMANY

Not as strong as a few years ago. But the Germans have set their eyes on a medal and will fight till the last meter. They have some really good shooters, and they are also among the stronger teams on the skis.

CZECH REPUBLIC

They showed some form before Lenzerheide. But they have had trouble getting through with four good legs. Czech Republic is one of several teams that can make a surprise medal.

UKRAINE

Not easy for the Ukrainians these days. But they are living abroad, competing at the highest level and delivering strong results. Former World champion Dmytro Pidruchnyi and young Mandzyn are strong athletes and it will be a blast if they make a medal.

ITALY

Another outsider with a good team. May be not four athletes on the absolute best level, but like the other outsiders here there is a chance that they can get in the medals. Tommaso Giacomel and Lukas Hofer are key names in the team.

START LIST

Complete start list can be found HERE and HERE

Also Read – Biathlon World Championships 2025: Complete program for Lenzerheide

FACTS Lenzerheide Biathlon World Championships Season 2024/2025

• When: Wednesday, February 12 to Sunday, February 23, 2025 
• Who: Elite national biathletes – women and men
• Where: Lenzerheide, Switzerland
• What: IBU World Championships in Lenzerheide, Switzerland

PROGRAM

Wednesday, February 12: Mixed Relay (W+M) (More details can be found HERE)

• 14:30 CET: Mixed Relay, Women+Men

Friday, February 14: 7.5km Sprint W (More details can be found HERE)

• 15:05 CET: 7.5km Sprint, Women

Saturday, February 15: 10km Sprint M (More details can be found HERE)

• 15:05 CET: 10km Sprint, Men

Sunday, February 16: 10km Pursuit W and 12.5km Pursuit M (More details can be found HERE)

• 12:05 CET: 10km Pursuit, Women
• 15:05 CET: 12.5km Pursuit, Men

Tuesday, February 18: 15km Individual W (More details can be found HERE)

• 15:05 CET: 15km Individual, Women

Wednesday, February 19: 20km Individual M (More details can be found HERE)

• 15:05 CET: 20km Individual, Men

Thursday, February 20: Single Mixed Relay (W+M) (More details can be found HERE)

• 16:05 CET: Single Mixed Relay, Woman+Man

Saturday, February 22: 4x6km Relay W and 4×7.5km Relay M (More details can be found HERE)

• 12:05 CET: 4x6km Relay, Women
• 15:05 CET: 4×7.5km Relay, Men

Sunday, February 23: 12.5km Mass Start W and 15km Mass Start M (More details can be found HERE)

• 13:45 CET: 12.5km Mass Start, Women
• 16:05 CET: 15km Mass Start, Men

After the World Championships in Lenzerheide (Switzerland), the biathlon World Cup heads to Nove Mesto Na Morave (Czech Republic) and Pokljuka (Slovenia). Then, the 2024/2025 World Cup season ends in Oslo (Norway).

Also Read: Biathlon World Cup and World Championships: Calendar for the 2024/2025 winter season

Are you interested in biathlon? Click HERE and read more about it.