How Norway’s biathlon stars will travel to Munich in unusual fashion

Several of the world’s best biathletes will gather this weekend for the inaugural IBU Loop One Festival at Munich’s Olympic Park. The event, staged on ski rollers, offers fans an early look at form roughly six weeks before the World Cup season begins.

For Norway, however, the timing clashes with a crucial altitude camp in Lavazè, Italy, ahead of the February Olympic Games. Overall World Cup winner Sturla Holm Lægreid told NRK that combining both commitments is difficult, but the team has found a solution—even if it isn’t ideal from a sustainability standpoint.

The solution: Norway’s athletes and staff will fly by helicopter from northern Italy to Germany. The distance is about 200 kilometers as the crow flies and takes around one hour; driving would have taken roughly five hours. The round‑trip helicopter cost is €14,000, covered by appearance fees the athletes receive from the IBU—about €2,000 per athlete.

Norwegian biathlon sporting director Per Arne Botnan said two helicopters are needed to transport all athletes and coaches. Lægreid added that, with the Olympics looming, the team felt compelled by the IBU schedule and saw this as the only way to minimize disruption to their high‑altitude preparation. He had previously criticized the Munich timing as hard to reconcile with the camp.

In Munich, speed and spectacle are the focus. On Sunday from 11:00 a.m., 60 men and 60 women will race on a 1.8‑km loop through four qualifying heats, with the finals in the afternoon.