Biathlon: See how the sport has changed dramatically since 1960

This short feature looks at how biathlon has changed since it first appeared at the Olympic Games. In Squaw Valley 1960 the men's 20 km included competitors like Sweden's Adolf Wiklund, whose shooting bouts were long — a single series could take about 42 seconds. In archival film you can also see him taking his skis off before shooting and calmly putting them back on afterwards.

Fast-forward to Milan–Cortina 2026 and the differences are obvious. Sweden’s Martin Ponsiluoma, who won Olympic gold in the recent pursuit race, completes his shooting much faster and keeps his skis on while shooting. Ponsiluoma’s routines and equipment reflect decades of technical, tactical and training developments that have made modern biathlon a markedly quicker and more integrated sport.

SVT presents the archival clip and the modern footage side by side so viewers can see the contrast for themselves. The piece is presented as a short video feature linked to SVT’s Olympic coverage and to related stories about Ponsiluoma’s win and reactions from the biathlon community.