Biathlon at IMGA Masters Games
The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not timed, but depending on the competition missed shots result in extra distance or time being added to the contestant’s total.
The modern biathlon is a civilian variant of the old military combined exercise. The first Biathlon World Championship was held in 1958 in Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first allowed in the Olympic biathlon. The pursuit format was added for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics and the IBU added mixed relay as a format for the 2006 season.
Age categories
Men & Women: 30+, 35+, 40+, 45+, 50+, 55+, 60+, 65+, 70+, 75+, 80+, 85+
Relays: 30+, 40+, 50+, 60+
Masters competitors must have reached their 30th birthday by December 31st of the year prior to the competition year to be permitted to take part in the WWMG. The age at this date further defines the athletes age category.
Possible events and disciplines
Sprint Competition: 2 shootings
M30+ 6.0-9.0 km
M60+ 4.5-5.0 km
W30+ 6.0 km
W60+ 4.5-5.0 km
Individual Competition: 4 shootings
M30+ 10.0-12.0 km
M60+ 7.5 km
M70+ 5.0 km
W30+ 7.5 km
W60+ 5.0 km
Relay: 2 shootings/ leg
M30+ 3×6.0 km
M60+ 3×4.5 or 5.0 km
Women 2 or 3 x4.5 or 5.0 km
Check Biathlon results previous events
The IMGA doesn’t allow building new venues and encourages the host cities to use existing facilities to keep the costs lower. Therefore, the following information is subject to changes depending on the venues available.
