The 1978–79 Biathlon World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season of

biathlon The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds. The shooting rounds are not ti ...

, organised by the UIPMB ( Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon). The season started on 10 January 1979 in

Jáchymov Jáchymov (; or ''Joachimsthal'') is a spa town in Karlovy Vary District in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic. It has about 2,300 inhabitants. Jáchymov has a long mining tradition, thanks to which it used to be the second most popu ...

Czechoslovakia Czechoslovakia ( ; Czech language, Czech and , ''Česko-Slovensko'') was a landlocked country in Central Europe, created in 1918, when it declared its independence from Austria-Hungary. In 1938, after the Munich Agreement, the Sudetenland beca ...

, and ended on 8 April 1979 in

Bardufoss or is a List of towns and cities in Norway, town and commercial centre in Målselv Municipality in Troms county, Norway. The urban area was formally established as a town under Norwegian law in 2021 when the three villages of Andselv, Andslimo ...

Norway Norway, officially the Kingdom of Norway, is a Nordic countries, Nordic country located on the Scandinavian Peninsula in Northern Europe. The remote Arctic island of Jan Mayen and the archipelago of Svalbard also form part of the Kingdom of ...

. It was the second season of the

Biathlon World Cup The Biathlon World Cup is a top-level biathlon season-long competition series. It has been held since the winter seasons of 1977–78 for men and 1982–83 for women. The women's seasons until 1986–87 season were called the European Cup, alt ...

, and it was only held for men.

Calendar

Below is the World Cup calendar for the 1978–79 season. ''*The relays were technically unofficial races as they did not count towards anything in the World Cup.''

World Cup Podium

Men

Standings: Men

Overall

*Final standings after 10 races.

Achievements

;First World Cup career victory: *, 26, in his 2nd season — the WC 1 Individual in Jáchymov; it also was his first podium *, 24, in his 2nd season — the WC 1 Sprint in Jáchymov; it also was his first podium and the first podium for an Austrian biathlete *, 32, in his 2nd season — the WC 2 Sprint in Antholz-Anterselva; first podium was 1977–78 Sprint in Sodankylä *, 27, in his 2nd season — the WC 3 Individual in Sodankylä; first podium was 1977–78 Individual in Murmansk ;First World Cup podium: *, 22, in his 2nd season — no. 3 in the WC 1 Individual in Jáchymov *, 27, in his 2nd season — no. 3 in the World Championships Sprint in Ruhpolding; it also was the first podium for an Italian biathlete *, 21, in his 1st season — no. 3 in the WC 3 Individual in Sodankylä *, 21, in his 1st season — no. 3 in the WC 4 Individual in Bardufoss ;Victory in this World Cup (all-time number of victories in parentheses): *, 2 (5) first places *, 2 (2) first places *, 1 (4) first place *, 1 (2) first place *, 1 (2) first place *, 1 (1) first place *, 1 (1) first place *, 1 (1) first place

Notes

:1. In the individual races in Jáchymov some non-World Cup racers participated. In the 20 km individual Jürgen Grundler, Thomas Klinger and Wolfgang Schütze, among others, were non-World Cup racers, and so for World Cup purposes Roar Nilsen won the race, with Rösch and Krokstad coming 2nd and 3rd. Pavlíček, Hess, Avdejev, Engen, Tor Svendsberget, Mathias Jung and Heinz Böttcher came 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th respectively and received the appropriate World Cup points. In the 10 km sprint, some of the non-World Cup racers were Sigvart Bjøntegaard, Stig Kvistad and Gerold Eichhorn, and so they did not receive any World Cup points, and for World Cup purposes Terje Krokstad came 3rd in that race and received the appropriate World Cup points, with Rösch, Hess, Grundler and Mitev coming 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, respectively, and receiving the appropriate World Cup points.

Retirements

Following notable biathletes retired after the 1978–79 season: * * *

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:1978-79 Biathlon World Cup Biathlon World Cup

World Cup A world cup is a global sporting competition in which the participant entities – usually international teams or individuals representing their countries – compete for the title of world champion. The event most associated with the name is ...