The 2025–26 Biathlon World Cup – Stage 1 was the first event of the season and is being held in Östersund, Sweden, from 29 November to 7 December 2025.
Stage overview
Following the previous season, several athletes announced their retirement, most notably the Overall World Cup and Olympic champions Johannes Thingnes Bø and Tarjei Bø, as well as the established World Cup competitors Elisa Gasparin, Chloé Chevalier, Emma Lunder and Felix Leitner. Janina Hettich-Walz, nominated by the German federation, will contest her first World Cup races since her pregnancy. Linn Gestblom will compete at the highest level for the first time after a 650-day injury break. Julia Simon was suspended due to a court ruling issued beforehand concerning the 2022 credit card fraud incident and was consequently excluded from the opening World Cup week.
As in every year, so-called season openings took place in Sweden and Norway in 2025. The competitions in Sweden were held in Idre as in previous years, but due to a lack of snow, the planned Short Individual race was abandoned, and two sprints over a shortened course were held instead. The first sprint was won by Sebastian Samuelsson and Hanna Öberg. Linn Gestblom achieved third place in her first official competition in over a year and a half – and both of them remained error-free at the shooting range. In the second sprint, Lucas Fratzscher led a German triple victory for the men, while Elvira Öberg won in the women's field. The races in Norway, also due to weather conditions, were held in Geilo instead of the usual venue, Sjusjøen. Maren Kirkeeide, by a narrow margin ahead of Marit Øygard and Lotte Lie and Johan-Olav Botn won the sprints, while Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold and Éric Perrot finished first in the mass start. The B-mass start, held before the actual competition, was won by the Norwegians Martin Nevland and Elida Fuglem.
Both nations subsequently also determined their athlete nominations for the first World Cup weekend. The Norwegian federation decided, in addition to the already qualified athletes, on Marthe Kråkstad Johansen, Ragnhild Femsteinevik, and Marit Øygard for the women's team, and Johan-Olav Botn, Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen, Isak Frey, and Vebjørn Sørum for the men's team. In Sweden, alongside established athletes, a debutant, Melker Nordgren, was also nominated. The German men's team also participated in the qualification races in Idre; ultimately, Lucas Fratzscher, Philipp Horn, Simon Kaiser, and Danilo Riethmüller qualified based on the results. The members of the women's team were selected at qualifying competitions in Ruhpolding in addition to the already mentioned Janina Hettich-Walz, Marlene Fichtner and Anna Weidel were given the remaining spots. Before the start of the stage, it was announced that the previously listed Vebjørn Sørum would be replaced by reserve athlete Sivert Guttorm Bakken due to poor health.
Johan-Olav Botn and Suvi Minkkinen secured their first career victories in the individual race. Sonja Leinamo and Camille Bened also earned their first individual podiums. After all the races of the stage, Johan-Olav Botn leads the overall World Cup standings for men, and Suvi Minkkinen leads for women.
Schedule of events The events took place at the following times. Date Time Events 29 November 15:15 CET Women's 4x6 km Relay 18:55 CET Men's 4x7.5 km Relay 30 November 16:00 CET Single Mixed Relay 18:40 CET Mixed Relay 2 December 17:30 CET Women's 15 km Individual 3 December 17:30 CET Men's 20 km Individual 5 December 18:00 CET Women's 7.5 km Sprint 6 December 18:30 CET Men's 10 km Sprint 7 December 15:15 CET Women's 10 km Pursuit 17:20 CET Men's 12.5 km Pursuit
Medal winners Men Event: Gold: Time Silver: Time Bronze: Time 4 x 7.5 km RelayMartin UldalIsak FreySturla Holm LægreidVetle Sjåstad Christiansen 1:11:10.1(0+2) (0+2)(0+0) (0+0)(0+1) (0+2)(1+3) (0+0)Fabien ClaudeQuentin Fillon MailletÉmilien JacquelinÉric Perrot 1:11:25.4(0+2) (2+3)(0+0) (0+1)(0+0) (1+3)(0+2) (0+0)Viktor BrandtJesper NelinSebastian SamuelssonMartin Ponsiluoma 1:11:34.8(0+3) (3+3)(0+2) (0+0)(0+2) (0+3)(0+0) (0+1) 20 km IndividualJohan-Olav Botn 46:49.4(0+0+0+0)Martin Uldal 47:47.1(0+0+0+0)Sebastian Samuelsson 47:49.4(0+0+1+0) 10 km SprintJohan-Olav Botn 24:26.3(0+0)Martin Uldal 24:37.4(0+0)Quentin Fillon Maillet 24:40.6(0+0) 12.5 km PursuitQuentin Fillon Maillet 30:14.5(1+1+0+0)Sebastian Samuelsson +6.7(0+0+1+1)Johan-Olav Botn +10.3(0+1+0+1)
Women Event: Gold: Time Silver: Time Bronze: Time 4 x 6 km RelayJeanne RichardOcéane MichelonJustine Braisaz-BouchetLou Jeanmonnot 1:11:17.9(0+0) (0+2)(0+1) (0+3)(0+0) (0+0)(0+0) (0+2)Dorothea WiererMichela CarraraLisa VittozziHannah Auchentaller 1:11:31.7(0+1) (0+0)(1+3) (1+2)(0+0) (0+1)(0+2) (0+0)Jessica JislováLucie CharvátováTereza VoborníkováMarkéta Davidová 1:11:48.7(0+0) (0+0)(0+1) (0+3)(0+2) (0+0)(0+0) (0+2) 15 km IndividualDorothea Wierer 43:08.0(1+1+0+0)Sonja Leinamo 43:08.3(0+0+1+0)Camille Bened 43:16.4(0+0+0+1) 7.5 km SprintSuvi Minkkinen 20:11.9(0+0)Anna Magnusson 20:28.5(0+0)Océane Michelon 20:32.7(0+0) 10 km PursuitLisa Theresa Hauser 30:14.2(0+0+0+0)Suvi Minkkinen +2.5(0+0+0+1)Anna Magnusson +31.8(1+0+0+0)
Mixed Event: Gold: Time Silver: Time Bronze: Time Single Mixed Relay Sebastian SamuelssonElla HalvarssonSebastian SamuelssonElla Halvarsson 35:12.1(0+0) (0+0)(0+0) (0+1)(0+0) (0+0)(0+1) (0+2) Sturla Holm LægreidMaren KirkeeideSturla Holm LægreidMaren Kirkeeide 35:31.2(0+0) (0+1)(0+1) (0+0)(0+0) (0+1)(0+2) (0+1) Fabien ClaudeCamille BenedFabien ClaudeCamille Bened 35:49.4(0+0) (0+0)(0+0) (0+1)(0+0) (1+3)(0+1) (0+1) Mixed RelayÉmilien JacquelinÉric PerrotJustine Braisaz-BouchetLou Jeanmonnot 1:05:16.5(0+0) (0+3)(0+1) (0+1)(0+1) (0+0)(0+0) (0+0)Tommaso GiacomelLukas HoferDorothea WiererLisa Vittozzi 1:05:41.7(0+1) (0+3)(0+0) (0+0)(0+0) (0+3)(0+0) (0+1)Endre StrømsheimJohan-Olav BotnKaroline Offigstad KnottenIngrid Landmark Tandrevold 1:06:21.8(0+0) (0+2)(0+0) (0+0)(0+0) (0+1)(0+1) (1+3)
Achievements Best individual performance for all time
Men Johan-Olav Botn (26), reached No. 1 on individual race Malte Stefansson (25), reached No. 10 on sprint race Maxime Germain (24), reached No. 11 on sprint race Jakob Kulbin (20), reached No. 12 on individual race Jan Guńka (23), reached No. 17 on pursuit race Maksim Fomin (25), reached No. 20 on individual race Mark-Markos Kehva (21), reached No. 34 on individual race Bohdan Borkovskyi (21), reached No. 43 on sprint race Melker Nordgren (23), reached No. 51 on pursuit race Sondre Slettemark (21), reached No. 56 on individual race Simon Adamov (21), reached No. 60 on individual race Jasper Fleming (20), reached No. 72 on individual race Julien Petitjacques (22), reached No. 81 on sprint race Kalle Loukkaanhuhta (22), reached No. 82 on sprint race Matic Bradeško (22), reached No. 84 on individual race Turkka Nieminen (22), reached No. 101 on individual race
Women Suvi Minkkinen (30), reached No. 1 on sprint race Sonja Leinamo (23), reached No. 2 on individual race Camille Bened (25), reached No. 3 on individual race Maya Cloetens (23), reached No. 6 on individual race Joanna Jakieła (26), reached No. 6 on sprint race Inka Hämäläinen (19), reached No. 12 on sprint race Lena Repinc (22), reached No. 16 on individual race Estere Volfa (20), reached No. 23 on pursuit race Marit Øygard (26), reached No. 26 on sprint race Shilo Rousseau (25), reached No. 31 on sprint race Amandine Mengin (21), reached No. 38 on individual race Marlene Fichtner (22), reached No. 44 on pursuit race Daryna Chalyk (24), reached No. 46 on sprint race Anna Nędza-Kubiniec (22), reached No. 54 on pursuit race Elza Bleidele (20), reached No. 60 on individual race Shawna Pendry (23), reached No. 67 on sprint race Valeriia Dmytrenko (28), reached No. 72 on individual race Marisa Emonts (20), reached No. 100 on sprint race
First World Cup individual race
Men Bohdan Borkovskyi (21), reached No. 44 on individual race Matic Bradeško (22), reached No. 84 on individual race Kalle Loukkaanhuhta (22), reached No. 87 on individual race Melker Nordgren (23), reached No. 89 on individual race Julien Petitjacques (22), reached No. 100 on individual race Turkka Nieminen (22), reached No. 101 on individual race
Women Valeriia Dmytrenko (28), reached No. 72 on individual race Marisa Emonts (20), reached No. 100 on sprint race
References