Questions & Answers: What's new? Who are the favorites?

What's up? Am Saturday (November 30th) starts in Östersund, Sweden , last winter's World Cup location, the 43rd Biathlon World Cup. A total of ten stations are planned this winter. The final will take place on March 16, 2020 at the famous Holmenkollen in Oslo (click here to print out the 2019/2020 biathlon race calendar) . What is the highlight of the season? In contrast to other winter sports, biathlon world championships take place every year. The 2020 World Cup starts on February 12th in Antholz in South Tyrol. Medals will be awarded in twelve competitions until February 23rd. The World Cup results are also included in the World Cup ranking. What chances do the South Tyrolean athletes have to start the new season? Series of successes like last year? Dorothea Wierer starts the season as the overall World Cup defending champion. The speedster can also be expected this year. Always good for top performance: Dominik Windisch. © APA/afp / JONATHAN NACKSTRAND

Among the men, Lukas Hofer (Montal) and Dominik Windisch (Rasen) are not among the big favorites, but are up for top placements in every race. You should also keep an eye on the South Tyrolean athletes in the relay competitions. Who are the favorites? When it comes to men, there is no way around Johannes Thingnes Bø. The high-flyer from Norway dominated last winter almost at will and set a new record with 16 victories. However, it is unclear whether Bø will run all the races. His wife is expecting their first child in January. It will be exciting to see how Martin Fourcade presents himself. The Frenchman showed unusual weaknesses last season. High flyer from Norway: Johannes Thingnes Bø. © AP / Anders Wiklund

For women, Wierer and hers are likely Teammate Lisa Vittozzi , the Norwegian Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Hanna Öberg (Sweden) and Denise Herrmann (Germany) are among the most promising candidates. Who is no longer there? The seven times World champion Laura Dahlmeier (Germany) announced her resignation in the spring. She no longer feels the 100% passion that is required for professional sports. Sprint world champion Anastasyja Kuzmina (Slovakia), already a mother of two, also ended her career. In addition, Simon Fourcade, who was mostly in the shadow of his younger brother Martin, and the German Michael Rösch, who last started for Belgium, called it quits. Olympic champion Anton Shipulin had already had enough over the course of last winter. The Russian was tired of the constant doping rumors surrounding him. What's new? In terms of sport, everything remains the same: There are still competitions in the individual (3), sprint (9), pursuit (6) and mass start (6) as well as in the relay (6), the mixed relay (4) and the single-mixed -Season (4). However, according to its president Olle Dahlin, the world association IBU has ushered in a “new era” in terms of sports policy. At its congress in October, the IBU adopted a new constitution with which the association wants to ensure more transparency and integrity in ethics and anti-doping issues after several scandals.

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Questions & Answers: What's new? Who are the favorites?

The Biathlon World Cup starts the new season this weekend. The big hunted also include South Tyrolean aces, especially overall World Cup winner Dorothea Wierer. Here are the answers to the most burning questions about the 2019/2020 biathlon season.

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