Everything is ready in Antholz

From January 21st to 24th, the largest winter sports event in Italy will take place in the village of 2.800 people. Then over 300 biathletes and over 60.000 fans from all over the world will transform the South Tyrol Arena into a cauldron. “Antholz is a village that lives for biathlon,” Mayor Thomas Schuster summed it up aptly at the official presentation of the event on Tuesday, January 5th at the Techno Alpin premises in Bolzano. Tried and tested pays off - true to this motto, the organizers are also organizing the 2016 edition of the world-famous event in Antholz. “The facility is set up, the snow is secured – we can actually just get started,” explained OK President Gottlieb Taschler at the press conference. In two weeks the time will come: from Tuesday, January 19th, the teams will put the cross-country skiing track to the test during training, but it won't really start until Thursday: then the women will open the fight for World Cup points with their sprint, the next day the men complete their short distance run. The highlight, as always, is the spectacular weekend: a pursuit race is on the program on Saturday, before the always exciting relay competitions on Sunday round off a unique biathlon event.

South Tyroleans are among the favorites A total of 300 biathletes from 31 countries will take part in the six races in Antholz. The hopes that a South Tyrolean representative will pull off the big coup for the first time since Lukas Hofer's victory two years ago are particularly weighing on the women this year: Dorothea Wierer from Niederrasen has already shone this season with a win and a second place, Federica Sanfilippo also landed on the silver podium once, and there was also a women's relay victory in Hochfilzen with Wierer, Sanfilippo and Karin Oberhofer. The girls have the necessary form to be at the top. Not to forget, of course, the male participation, which is also a surprise with Lukas Hofer and Dominik Windisch. By the way: Before Lukas Hofer's success in January 2014, Antholz had to wait over 26 years for a South Tyrolean victory. On January 23, 1988, Johann Passler celebrated a home win. It is well known that Antholz not only provides spectacular biathlon sport when it appears on the world stage, but also guarantees a good supporting program. There will be plenty going on on and off the slopes this year too, with cult singer Ross Antony's performance on Sunday being just one of many highlights. Among others, the South Tyrolean Spitzbuam will raise the mood barometer in the festival tent with their music. “We want to create a mix between Oktoberfest and apre-ski,” explains OK President Gottlieb Taschler.

Over 60.000 spectators expected The impressive number of spectators is a testament to the excellent show in the small Puster village: Last year, a new attendance record was set with 62.631 tickets sold. This year we want to break this mark. All seats for the weekend races have been sold, there are only tickets left for the route. The ratings on television took on gigantic dimensions last year: ZDF alone achieved a dream rating on the four racing days with over 25 million viewers and a 33% market share. Year after year, channels broadcast the World Cup races all over the world, and this year the Italian television Rai is also broadcasting the Antholz competitions live.

Advertising for the sixth home World Cup in 2020 The application plans for the 2020 World Cup were also finalized during the press conference on Tuesday. Last year they applied to host the World Cup in 2019, but ultimately had to give way to the Swedish Östersund. From January 21st to 24th, Antholz wants to present its best side - experience has shown that a special class spectacle awaits the international biathlon circus again this year.

The program for the Biathlon World Cup in Antholz: Thursday, January 21, 2016 , at 14.30:XNUMX p.m.: Sprint women Friday, January 22, 2016 , at 14.30:XNUMX p.m.: Sprint men S Saturday, January 23, 2016 , 13.15:15.15 p.m.: Pursuit ladies; XNUMX:XNUMX p.m.: Pursuit of men Sunday, January 24, 2016 , 11.30 a.m.: women's relay; 14.40 p.m.: Men's relay

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Everything is ready in Antholz

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