Biathlon: a super sprint on the programme at the first Loop One Festival in Munich
On Sunday, all but a handful of the world’s best biathletes will be taking part in the first Loop One Festival in Munich (Germany). In the heart of the Bavarian capital’s Olympic Park, they will compete in a super sprint… just 41 days before the start of the 2025/2026 World Cup.
The day’s format will be special, first and foremost for practical reasons: the shooting range built at Olympiapark has only fifteen targets. It has therefore been decided to organise four qualifying rounds for both men and women, with fifteen biathletes taking part in each.
Each round will be 5.4km long, with three 1.8km loops to cover, interspersed with two shooting sequences: prone and standing. There won’t be any spiked bullets , as each missed target will result in a 60-metre penalty ring. A maximum of two athletes from any one nation may be in the same heat.
A 9 km final with four shots
At the finish, the top three finishers will qualify, while the three fastest times will be placed in a repechage and thus on the starting grid for the grand final. However, the IBU has introduced a final point of regulation.
It states that “if a [nation] in the top four of the overall ranking by nation for the 2024/2025 World Cup [Norway, France, Sweden, Germany, editor’s note] has no athlete qualified for the final via a place from 1 to 3 in the heats, the best athlete from that [nation], based on the time achieved in the qualifiers, will qualify as the lucky loser”.
As a result, France, Germany, Sweden and Norway are already guaranteed to have at least one male and one female representative at the Loop One Festival Grand Final. It also states that “if this rule is applied [simultaneously] to all four nations, then the third slowest in the series will be eliminated”. Fortunately, this scenario is highly unlikely to happen.
Finally, the final will also be contested by fifteen athletes, and this time will be 9km long, with five 1.8km loops to cover. There will be four shots: two prone and two standing. Once again, there will be no pickaxes , as each missed target will result in a 60-metre penalty ring.
The programme for the Loop One Festival in Munich 🇩🇪
Saturday 18th October
- 10.30am-10.50am: seated shooting trials
- 10.50am-11.10am: standing shooting trials and visually impaired people
- 11.15 am: Para biathlon single seated mixed relay
- 11.55am: Para biathlon single mixed relay for the visually impaired
- 12.35pm: men’s para biathlon standing mass start
- 3.15pm-3.45pm: Young men’s and women’s shooting trials
- 16:00: young men’s mass-start
- 16:30: young women’s mass-start
- 17:00: Para-biathlon and youth prize-giving ceremonies
Sunday 19 October
- 10:20-10:50: Men’s shooting trials
- 11.00: Men’s super sprint qualifying heat 1
- 11.20am: Men’s super sprint qualifying heat 2
- 11.40am: Men’s super sprint qualifying heat no. 3
- 12.00: Men’s super sprint qualifying heat no. 4
- 12.20pm-12.50pm: Women’s shooting trials
- 13:00: Ladies’ super sprint qualifying heat 1
- 1.20pm: Women’s super sprint qualifying heat 2
- 1.40pm: Women’s super sprint qualifying heat no. 3
- 2.00 pm: women’s super sprint qualifying heat no. 4
- 3.42pm: men’s super sprint final
- 4.23pm: Women’s super sprint final
- 5.00 pm: men’s and women’s prize-giving ceremony
- The full programme of the Loop One Festival in Munich, the show organised by the IBU to open the 2025/2026 season.
- TV rights: Munich’s Loop One Festival broadcast on France Télévisions’ digital channels
- The IBU launches the Loop One Festival, the opening event of the 2025/2026 season in Munich
- “Stéphane Bouthiaux regrets the late announcement of the Loop One Festival, the IBU’s urban showcase at the start of the season.
- The IBU’s urban show at the start of the season has changed the Summer Tour schedule: the first stage will take place in Arçon in September, the second in La Féclaz in October.
- France has nine quotas for the Loop One Festival, an urban show organised by the IBU on 19 October in Munich.
- The crème de la crème: the names of the nine French riders selected for the Loop One Festival, the season-opening show organised by the IBU in Munich.
- The Summer Tour of La Féclaz rather than the Loop One Festival in Munich for Justine Braisaz-Bouchet
- Germany with Franziska Preuss, Justus Strelow, Selina Grotian and Janina Hettich-Walz for the Loop One Festival, Vanessa Voigt absent
- Great Britain with Shawna Pendry and Matthew Chronicle at the Loop One Festival in Munich
- “They’re going there to give it their all”: Karl Tabouret and Benjamin Daviet at the start of the Loop One Festival in Munich on 18 October
- Tendinitis, illness: France’s Benjamin Daviet and Karl Tabouret forced to withdraw from Loop One Festival
- Loop One Festival: Belgium with Maya Cloetens, Florent Claude, Lotte Lie and Thierry Langer
- Finland, led by Suvi Minkkinen, six for the Loop One Festival
- Loop One Festival: Italy in Munich with Lisa Vittozzi, Tommaso Giacomel and Dorothea Wierer
- Loop One Festival: the Czech Republic without Marketa Davidova, but with Tereza Vobornikova, Michal Krcmar and Vitezslav Hornig
- Australia represented at Munich’s Loop One Festival
- Munich: Slovenia with Anamarija Lampic, but without Jakov Fak for the Loop One Festival
- Loop One Festival: Sweden selects Ella Halvarsson and Martin Ponsiluoma, the Oeberg sisters and Sebastian Samuelson stay at home
- Loop One Festival: three Americans to take part in Munich show, no Canadians present
- Without Sebastian Stalder and Niklas Hartweg, with Lena Haecki-Gross: Switzerland’s selection for the Loop One Festival
- Loop One Festival: Austria led by Simon Eder and Lisa Theresa Hauser, Anna Gandler also selected
- Maren Kirkeeide, Sturla Holm Lægreid, Ingrid Landmark Tandrevold, Martin Uldal or Karoline Knotten: Norway with its best at Loop One Festival
- Loop One Festival: still unable to shoot standing up after hand surgery, Franziska Preuss cancels Munich show
- Dorothea Wierer also withdraws from Loop One Festival
- Three Estonians, two Lithuanians, none Latvians: the Baltic countries’ selections for the Loop One Festival
- Loop One Festival in Munich: France guaranteed to have a biathlete in both the men’s and women’s finals
