Top athletes are affected
Controversial rule is intended to make biathlon races more exciting
September 25, 2024, 10:25 p.m
The Biathlon World Federation is planning a rule change for the coming World Cup season that will affect both the sprints and the individuals. The goal is more exciting races. There have recently been critical voices from the athletes’ camp. However, the rule only applies on a trial basis.
The best biathletes will start later than usual in the individual races next season. As the world association IBU announced before its regular congress in Belgrade, the best 15 athletes in the overall World Cup rankings will in future start in sprints and individual races with starting numbers between 46 and 75. Until now, these top athletes had been able to choose their starting group freely, but they usually chose a very low number for fear of the distance becoming weaker.
The new regulation is intended to prevent the races from being decided early on, as was often the case in the past. Instead, “exciting competitions are guaranteed until the end,” the world association wrote in its statement. The best athletes from each country who are not among the top 30 in the World Cup are scheduled to open the races. The decision was made in coordination between the IBU Technical Committee, the Athletes Commission and several national associations.
The new regulation will first be tested during the four World Cup weeks in November and December. After the results have been evaluated, a decision should be made about whether to continue. In exceptional weather situations, the competition jury can also decide that the 15 best athletes in the current World Cup overall ranking start at the beginning of the competition so that they do not suffer any disadvantages. The rule change had been discussed for some time and was not necessarily met with approval.
“I’m not happy with this suggestion. If the best in the World Cup are among the last starters, they will have worse conditions than those who are less strong,” criticized Norwegian Vetle Sjastad Christiansen. The Swede Elvira Öberg also complained via the newspaper “Expressen”: “I’m not a fan of it. (…) The cross-country ski run often deteriorates and then there are many disadvantages for us athletes. I think it’s a shame that so little attention is given to this aspect importance is given.” There are also critical voices in the German camp. Philipp Nawrath told “chiemgau24”: “I don’t think that’s a good idea. It’s usually an advantage to be able to start in the first or second group and you earn that through good performances.”
