Biathlon at 2026 Milano Cortina: How it works, U.S. stars to watch

The U.S. has medaled in every Winter Olympic sport, except Biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Can American biathletes end their 66-year shutout at the 2026 Milano Cortina Winter Olympics?

Campbell Wright offers Team USA's best shot at making a biathlon podium. The 23-year-old represented New Zealand at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics, but the dual citizenship athlete switched in 2023 to represent the U.S., where his parents were born, and won two silver medals at the 2025 World Championship.

When did biathlon become a Winter Olympic sport?

Although the biathlon officially made its debut at the 1960 Squaw Valley Winter Olympics, military patrols are a direct precursor to biathlon and date back to the inaugural 1924 Chamonix Winter Olympics. Military patrols were included in the 1928, 1936 and 1948 Winter Games as a demonstration sport, before the first biathlon was contested in 1960 with the men's 20-km event. Women's events made their debut at the 1992 Albertville Winter Games, while mixed relay was added to the program in 2014 in Sochi.

How does Olympic biathlon work?

Athletes strap rifles to their back and ski multiple laps around a cross-country track. After each lap, the skier arrives at a shooting zone and fires five shots at a target from either the standing position or prone position. A missed target results in a penalty: either a lap around a penalty loop or one minute added to the overall time. The winner is determined by either the first to cross the finish line or best overall time, depending on the event.

There are 11 Olympic biathlon events. Men and women have their own events and there's one mixed relay:

Men

• 10-kilometer sprint
• 20-kilometer individual event
• 12.5-kilometer pursuit
• 15-kilometer mass start
• 4x7.5-kilometer relay

Women

• 7.5-kilometer sprint
• 15-kilometer individual event
• 10-kilometer pursuit
• 12.5-kilometer mass start
• 4x6-kilometer relay

Mixed

• 4x6-kilometer mixed relay: Two men and two women

Top Team USA athletes

• Campbell Wright: The 23-year-old represented New Zealand at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics before joining Team USA in October 2023. Wright became the first U.S biathlete to win two medals in a single world championship when he won back-to-back silver medals in sprint and pursuit. He's the first American to win a world championship medal since Susan Dunklee in 2020 and the first American male since Lowell Bailey's gold in the 20 km in 2017.
• Deedra Irwin: The 33-year-old is looking to improve on her seventh-place finish in the women's 15km individual race in Beijing in 2022, marking the best-ever Olympic finish for an American biathlete.

International landscape

France dominated the 2025 Biathlon World Championships, winning six golds and 13 total medals, the most of any country, followed by nine total medals for Norway, five for Germany and four for Sweden.

France's Quentin Fillon Maillet became the first biathlete to win five medals in a single Winter Games after earning two golds (individual, pursuit) and three silver medals (sprint, relay and mixed relay) in Beijing in 2022. France's Julia Simon won a mixed relay silver medal in Beijing in 2022 and took home four golds at the 2025 world championships (individual, relay, mixed relay and single mixed relay).

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This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Biathlon at 2026 Milano Cortina: How it works, U.S. stars to watch