The Olympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 marked a defining moment for biathlon, delivering unprecedented global reach, record-breaking audiences and a digital surge that elevated the sport to new heights.

With sold-out grandstands, outstanding broadcast figures across Europe and explosive growth across digital platforms, Olympic biathlon at Milano Cortina 2026 was the most successful edition in the sport’s history. In Europe’s core markets, biathlon reaffirmed its position as Europe’s most-watched winter sport and one of the premier broadcast properties of the Olympic Winter Games.

• In Germany, the Women’s Mass Start on ARD’s Sportschau secured the highest market share of all Olympic broadcasts on the channel, attracting 5.75 million viewers (44.6% market share). On ZDF, the Mixed Relay reached 6.638 million viewers with a 45.6% market share.

• In France, France 2 peaked at 6.5 million viewers and a 52% market share for the Women’s Mass Start, while the Mixed Relay drew 5.8 million viewers (47% share).

• In Czechia, CT Sport registered the highest audience for any biathlon event ever during the Mixed Relay with over 1.7 million average viewers and a 55% market share.

• In Italy, RAI recorded a national biathlon audience record for the Women’s Sprint with 2.73 million viewers and a 24% market share.

• In Finland, 1.7 million viewers tuned in to watch the Mixed Relay, making biathlon one of the most-watched sports for YLE.

• In Norway, NRK recorded a 90 per cent market share and one of its peak audiences of 900k for the biathlon Mixed Relay.

The digital performance during the Olympic period marked a transformational leap. Biathlon was the most engaging of any single discipline at the Olympic Games on social media, building on a 300–400% growth trajectory across reach, video views and engagements over the past three seasons. During the Olympic month of February 2026, the numbers accelerated dramatically compared to Beijing 2022:

• 448 million content impressions (20x increase vs 2022)

• 313+ million video views (116x increase vs 2022)

• More than 15 million engagements (900% increase)

• Follower growth to 840,000 (+17.34% compared to pre-Games)

This exponential rise highlights the strength of biathlon’s storytelling, real-time content strategy and fan-first digital approach.

The IBU’s athlete amplification strategy drove global visibility and further strengthened the sport’s digital footprint. Content production for and collab posts with Biathletes generated 40 million video views across the athletes’ social media channels during the Games, expanding the visibility of the sport’s biggest stars. In addition, collaborations with three influencers targeting younger audiences delivered an additional 10 million views, complementing the IBU’s editorial content with creatively distinct formats designed to reach new demographics. The surge extended to IBU’s owned digital platforms with a record traffic on the IBU app:

• 850,000 unique users accessed the IBU website and app

• Nearly 65 million total interactions were recorded

• 35.8M of website & app views were registered

• Almost 350,000 active users engaged with live timing, results and athlete bios via the IBU app

• Fans spent an average of 38 minutes per session on the app during competitions

Growth was particularly strong in France, Italy and Sweden, while new fans were acquired in established core markets such as Germany and the Czech Republic – underlining the sustainable expansion of the sport’s global audience. The global spectacle was centered in the iconic venue of Antholz-Anterselva, and the competitions provided a fitting stage for one of the most compelling Olympic performances of the Games.

With more than 170,000 tickets sold, biathlon recorded the second-highest ticket sales of any sport at the Games and accounted for approximately 13% of all tickets sold. It was also the highest-capacity venue of Milano Cortina 2026 – a powerful statement of the sport’s draw and atmosphere.

As the Paralympic Winter Games Milano Cortina 2026 get underway, biathlon remains on centre stage. At the same time, the BMW IBU World Cup continues in Kontiolahti, Finland, the IBU Youth and Junior World Championships bring the next generation of stars to Arber, Germany, and the IBU Cup Final in Lake Placid, USA, delivers high-stakes competition to close the IBU Cup season.