# 1979–80 Biathlon World Cup

The 1979–80 Biathlon World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season of biathlon, organised by the UIPMB (Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon). The season started on 18 January 1980 in Ruhpolding, West Germany, and ended on 30 March 1980 in Murmansk, Soviet Union. It was the third season of the Biathlon World Cup, and it was only held for men.

## Calendar

Below is the World Cup calendar for the 1979–80 season.
| Location | Date | Individual | Sprint | Relay |
| Ruhpolding | 18–20 January | ● | ● | ● |
| Antholz-Anterselva | 24–27 January | ● | ● | ● |
| Lake Placid | 16–22 February | ● | ● | ● |
| Lahti | 14–16 March | ● | ● | ● |
| Hedenäset | 20–23 March | ● | ● | ● |
| Murmansk | 27–30 March | ● | ● | ● |
| Total | Total | 6 | 6 | 6 |
* 1980 Winter Olympics races were not included in the 1979–80 World Cup scoring system.
*The relays were technically unofficial races as they did not count towards anything in the World Cup.

## World Cup Podium
### Men

| Stage | Date | Place | Discipline | Winner | Second | Third | Yellow bib (After competition) |
| 1 | 18 January 1980 | Ruhpolding | 20 km Individual | Klaus Siebert | Eberhard Rösch | Matthias Jacob | Klaus Siebert |
| 1 | 19 January 1980 | Ruhpolding | 10 km Sprint | Frank Ullrich | Klaus Siebert | Yvon Mougel | Klaus Siebert |
| 2 | 24 January 1980 | Antholz-Anterselva | 20 km Individual | Klaus Siebert | Frank Ullrich | Alfred Eder | Klaus Siebert |
| 2 | 26 January 1980 | Antholz-Anterselva | 10 km Sprint | Frank Ullrich | Mathias Jung | Manfred Beer | Klaus Siebert |
| 3 | 14 March 1980 | Lahti | 20 km Individual | Vladimir Gavrikov | Mathias Jung | Keijo Kuntola | Frank Ullrich |
| 3 | 15 March 1980 | Lahti | 10 km Sprint | Vladimir Gavrikov | Frank Ullrich | Klaus Siebert | Frank Ullrich |
| 4 | 20 March 1980 | Hedenäset | 20 km Individual | Klaus Siebert | Frank Ullrich | Eberhard Rösch | Frank Ullrich |
| 4 | 22 March 1980 | Hedenäset | 10 km Sprint | Frank Ullrich | Klaus Siebert | Vladimir Alikin | Frank Ullrich |
| 5 | 27 March 1980 | Murmansk | 20 km Individual | Frank Ullrich | Vladimir Velichkov | Eberhard Rösch | Frank Ullrich |
| 5 | 29 March 1980 | Murmansk | 10 km Sprint | Eberhard Rösch | Vladimir Alikin | Vladimir Velichkov | Frank Ullrich |

## Standings: Men
### Overall

| Pos. | | Points |
| 1. | Frank Ullrich | 148 |
| 2. | Klaus Siebert | 146 |
| 3. | Eberhard Rösch | 133 |
| 4. | Vladimir Gavrikov | 129 |
| 5. | Mathias Jung | 127 |
* Final standings after 10 races.

## Achievements
### First World Cup career victory

* Vladimir Gavrikov (URS), — the WC 3 Individual in Lahti; it also was his first podium
* Eberhard Rösch (GDR), 25, in his 3rd season — the WC 5 Sprint in Murmansk; first podium was 1977–78 Individual in Ruhpolding

### First World Cup podium

* Matthias Jacob (GDR), 19, in his 1st season — no. 3 in the WC 1 Individual in Ruhpolding
* Yvon Mougel (FRA), 23, in his 3rd season — no. 3 in the WC 1 Sprint in Ruhpolding; it also was the first podium for a French biathlete
* Alfred Eder (AUT), 26, in his 3rd season — no. 3 in the WC 2 Individual in Antholz-Anterselva
* Mathias Jung (GDR), 21, in his 2nd season — no. 2 in the WC 2 Sprint in Antholz-Anterselva
* Manfred Beer (GDR), 26, in his 3rd season — no. 3 in the WC 2 Sprint in Antholz-Anterselva
* Keijo Kuntola (FIN), 26, in his 3rd season — no. 3 in the WC 3 Individual in Lahti
* Vladimir Velichkov (BUL), 20, in his 1st season — no. 2 in the WC 5 Individual in Murmansk; it also was the first podium for a Bulgarian biathlete

### Victory in this World Cup (all-time number of victories in parentheses)

* Frank Ullrich (GDR), 4 (8) first places
* Klaus Siebert (GDR), 3 (8) first places
* Vladimir Gavrikov (URS), 2 (2) first places
* Eberhard Rösch (GDR), 1 (1) first place

## Retirements

Following notable biathletes retired after the 1979–80 season:
* Manfred Beer (GDR)
* Klaus Siebert (GDR)
* Alexander Tikhonov (URS)
* Alexander Ushakov (URS)