Relay

The relay teams consist of four biathletes, who each ski 7.5 km (men) or 6 km (women), each leg skied over three laps, with two shooting rounds; one prone, one standing. After three spare bullets, if there are still misses, one 150 m (490 ft) penalty loop must be taken for each missed target remaining. The first-leg participants start all at the same time, and as in cross-country skiing relays, every athlete of a team must touch the team’s next-leg participant to perform a valid changeover. On the first shooting of the first leg, the participant must shoot in the lane corresponding to their bib number. For the remainder of the relay, the relay team shoots on a first-come, first-served basis.

There is also a mixed relay. Mixed relay is similar to the ordinary relay but the teams are composed of two women and two men. Legs 1 and 2 are done by the women, legs 3 and 4 by the men. The women’s legs are 6 km and men’s legs are 7.5 km as in ordinary relay competitions.

In 2015, single mixed relay was introduced to the Biathlon World Cup by the IBU. Competing on a 1.5 km track, each team has a woman and a man, running respectively for 3 km + 3 km (2 + 2 laps) & 3 km + 4.5 km (2 + 3 laps), totaling 13.5 km. Specific to this format, relay happens immediately after the last shooting of each series, and not after a following lap as it happens normally. Either women or men starting is the result if a decision if the IBU Technical Committee. Since the last series has a supplemental lap between the last shooting and the finish line, it is most probable women will always start and men finish this race category.