# Biathlon World Championships 2008

The 42nd Biathlon World Championships were held in Östersund, Sweden from 8 to 17 February 2008. It was the second time Östersund was hosting the Biathlon World Championships, the first being in 1970. It was also 50 years after the first Biathlon World Championships, which were held 1958 in Saalfelden, Austria.
There were a total of 11 competitions: sprint, pursuit, individual, mass start, and relay races for men and women, and the relatively new mixed relay. The championships were dominated by the German, Norwegian, and Russian teams, which would win every competition and 28 of the 33 available medals.

## Schedule

| Date | Event |
| 9 February | Women's 7.5 km sprint |
| 9 February | Men's 10 km sprint |
| 10 February | Women's 10 km pursuit |
| 10 February | Men's 7.5 km pursuit |
| 12 February | 2 × 6 km + 2 × 7.5 km relay |
| 14 February | Women's 15 km individual |
| 14 February | Men's 20 km individual |
| 16 February | Men's 4 × 7.5 km relay |
| 16 February | Women's 12.5 km mass start |
| 17 February | Men's 15 km mass start |
| 17 February | Women's 4 × 6 km relay |

## Medal winners
### Men

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 10 km sprint details | Maxim Tchoudov Russia | 22:25.4 (0+0) | Halvard Hanevold Norway | 22:45.2 (0+0) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 22:55.4 (0+2) |
| 12.5 km pursuit details | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 31:04.5 (0+1+1+0) | Maxim Tchoudov Russia | 31:14.6 (2+0+2+0) | Alexander Wolf Germany | 31:47.3 (0+0+1+0) |
| 20 km individual details | Emil Hegle Svendsen Norway | 51:51.9 (0+1+0+0) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 52:23.3 (1+1+0+0) | Maxim Maksimov Russia | 52:26.7 (0+0+0+0) |
| 4 × 7.5 km relay details | RussiaIvan Tcherezov Nikolay Kruglov Dmitry Yaroshenko Maxim Tchoudov | 1:21:00.7 (0+0) (0+1) (0+0) (0+2) (0+0) (0+1) (0+0) (0+1) | NorwayEmil Hegle Svendsen Rune Brattsveen Halvard Hanevold Ole Einar Bjørndalen | 1:21:49.9 (0+0) (0+1) (0+0) (0+3) (0+1) (0+2) (0+0) (0+0) | GermanyMichael Rösch Alexander Wolf Andreas Birnbacher Michael Greis | 1:22:43.2 (0+0) (1+3) (0+0) (0+1) (0+2) (1+3) (0+3) (0+2) |
| 15 km mass start details | Emil Hegle Svendsen Norway | 36:12.6 (1+0+0+0) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen Norway | 36:13.0 (0+0+1+0) | Maxim Tchoudov Russia | 36:37.5 (0+1+2+0) |

### Women

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 7.5 km sprint details | Andrea Henkel Germany | 19:43.1 (0+0) | Albina Akhatova Russia | 19:55.8 (0+0) | Oksana Khvostenko Ukraine | 20:06.3 (0+0) |
| 10 km pursuit details | Andrea Henkel Germany | 28:56.0 (0+0+0+0) | Ekaterina Iourieva Russia | 29:16.5 (0+0+0+0) | Albina Akhatova Russia | 29:34.5 (0+0+0+0) |
| 15 km individual details | Ekaterina Iourieva Russia | 44:23.8 (0+0+0+0) | Martina Glagow Germany | 45:37.1 (1+0+0+0) | Oksana Khvostenko Ukraine | 46:48.2 (0+0+1+0) |
| 4 × 6 km relay details | GermanyMartina Glagow Andrea Henkel Magdalena Neuner Kati Wilhelm | 1:10:12.6 (0+0) (0+0) (0+0) (0+0) (0+2) (1+3) (0+2) (0+2) | UkraineOksana Yakovleva Vita Semerenko Valentyna Semerenko Oksana Khvostenko | 1:10:43.5 (0+0) (0+0) (0+0) (0+2) (0+0) (0+2) (0+0) (0+0) | FranceDelphyne Peretto Marie-Laure Brunet Sylvie Becaert Sandrine Bailly | 1:11:48.3 (0+1) (0+1) (0+0) (1+3) (0+1) (1+3) (0+2) (0+2) |
| 12.5 km mass start details | Magdalena Neuner Germany | 39:36.5 (0+0+2+2) | Tora Berger Norway | 39:39.5 (1+0+0+0) | Ekaterina Iourieva Russia | 40:06.0 (1+0+1+0) |

### Mixed

| Event | Gold | Gold | Silver | Silver | Bronze | Bronze |
| 2 × 6 + 2 × 7.5 km W+M relay details | GermanySabrina Buchholz Magdalena Neuner Andreas Birnbacher Michael Greis | 1:12:20.5 (0+0) (0+0) (0+0) (0+2) (0+1) (0+2) (0+0) (0+1) | BelarusLiudmila Kalinchik Darya Domracheva Rustam Valiullin Sergey Novikov | 1:13:13.1 (0+0) (0+1) (0+0) (0+1) (0+0) (0+0) (0+0) (0+2) | RussiaSvetlana Sleptsova Oksana Neupokoeva Nikolay Kruglov Dmitry Yaroshenko | 1:13:23.4 (0+0) (0+0) (0+0) (0+2) (1+3) (0+2) (0+0) (0+2) |

## Medal summary

| Rank | Nation | Gold | Silver | Bronze | Total |
| 1 | Germany (GER) | 5 | 1 | 2 | 8 |
| 2 | Norway (NOR) | 3 | 5 | 1 | 9 |
| 3 | Russia (RUS) | 3 | 3 | 5 | 11 |
| 4 | Ukraine (UKR) | 0 | 1 | 2 | 3 |
| 5 | Belarus (BLR) | 0 | 1 | 0 | 1 |
| 6 | France (FRA) | 0 | 0 | 1 | 1 |
| Totals (6 entries) | Totals (6 entries) | 11 | 11 | 11 | 33 |