# Biathlon at the 2002 Winter Olympics

Biathlon at the 2002 Winter Olympics consisted of eight biathlon events. They were held at Soldier Hollow. The events began on 11 February and ended on 20 February 2002. For the first time since 1992, the biathlon program expanded. A new race type, the pursuit (for both men and women) was added, the first new race type since the debut of the sprint in 1980.

## Medal summary

Seven nations won medals in biathlon, with Germany winning the most (3 gold, 5 silver, 1 bronze), while Norway led the medal table with 4 gold medals. These four all involved Ole Einar Bjørndalen, who won each of the three men's individual events, as well as participating in the gold-medal winning relay team. Kati Wilhelm was the most successful athlete in the women's competition, taking two golds and a silver.

### Medal table

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Norway (NOR) | 4 | 2 | 0 | 6 |
| 2 | Germany (GER) | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | Russia (RUS) | 1 | 0 | 2 | 3 |
| 4 | France (FRA) | 0 | 1 | 1 | 2 |
| 5 | Sweden (SWE) | 0 | 0 | 2 | 2 |
| 6 | Austria (AUT) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| 6 | Bulgaria (BUL) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (7 entries) | Totals (7 entries) | 8 | 8 | 8 | 24 |

### Men's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Individual details | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 51:03.3 | Frank Luck Germany | 51:39.4 | Viktor Maigourov Russia | 51:40.6 |
| Sprint details | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 24:51.3 | Sven Fischer Germany | 25:20.2 | Wolfgang Perner Austria | 25:44.4 |
| Pursuit details | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 32:34.6 | Raphaël Poirée France | 33:17.6 | Ricco Groß Germany | 33:30.6 |
| Relay details | Norway (NOR) Halvard Hanevold Frode Andresen Egil Gjelland Ole Einar Bjørndalen | 1:23:42.3 | Germany (GER) Ricco Groß Peter Sendel Sven Fischer Frank Luck | 1:24:27.6 | France (FRA) Gilles Marguet Vincent Defrasne Julien Robert Raphaël Poirée | 1:24:36.6 |

### Women's events

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| Individual details | Andrea Henkel Germany | 47:29.1 | Liv Grete Skjelbreid-Poirée Norway | 47:37.0 | Magdalena Forsberg Sweden | 48:08.3 |
| Sprint details | Kati Wilhelm Germany | 20:41.4 | Uschi Disl Germany | 20:57.0 | Magdalena Forsberg Sweden | 21:20.4 |
| Pursuit details | Olga Pyleva Russia | 31:07.7 | Kati Wilhelm Germany | 31:13.0 | Irina Nikulchina Bulgaria | 31:15.8 |
| Relay details | Germany (GER) Katrin Apel Uschi Disl Andrea Henkel Kati Wilhelm | 1:27:55.0 | Norway (NOR) Ann-Elen Skjelbreid Linda Tjørhom Gunn Margit Andreassen Liv Grete Skjelbreid-Poirée | 1:28:25.6 | Russia (RUS) Olga Pyleva Galina Kukleva Svetlana Ishmouratova Albina Akhatova | 1:29:19.7 |

## Participating nations

Thirty-four nations sent biathletes to compete in the events. Below is a list of the competing nations; in parentheses are the number of national competitors. Chile and Croatia made their Olympic debuts in the sport, with one athlete each.
* Argentina (2)
* Austria (5)
* Belarus (11)
* Bulgaria (5)
* Canada (1)
* Chile (2)
* China (5)
* Croatia (1)
* Czech Republic (10)
* Estonia (4)
* Finland (9)
* France (10)
* Great Britain (4)
* Germany (11)
* Greece (2)
* Hungary (3)
* Italy (10)
* Japan (8)
* Kazakhstan (2)
* Kyrgyzstan (1)
* South Korea (2)
* Latvia (5)
* Lithuania (2)
* Moldova (2)
* Norway (9)
* Poland (5)
* Romania (4)
* Russia (11)
* Slovenia (10)
* Switzerland (4)
* Slovakia (6)
* Sweden (5)
* Ukraine (11)
* United States (8)