The IBU Executive Board (EB) this week in Salzburg confirmed the athletes who will receive reallocated medals following the Swiss Federal Tribunal’s decision to reject Russian biathlete Evgeny Ustyugov’s final appeal and uphold the disqualification of all his results between 2010 and 2014 due to anti-doping rule violations.

The list of updated results and total scores is as follows:

Mass Start World Cup Score 2009/2010 New Winner: Christoph Sumann (AUT)

Nations Cup Men 2011/2012 New Winner: FRANCE

Nations Cup Men 2012/2013 New Winner: NORWAY

Relay Men Total Score 2012/2013 New Winner: NORWAY

Updated World Championship Results – IBU World Championships Biathlon 2011 (Khanty-Mansiysk):

Mass Start Men: New Silver medallist Lukas Hofer (ITA), new Bronze medallist Tarjei Boe (NOR)

Relay Men: New Silver medallist UKRAINE, new Bronze medallist SWEDEN

IBU President Olle Dahlin said:

“We are delighted to finally provide these deserving athletes with the recognition they rightfully earned through their dedication, hard work, and commitment to fair play. While we regret that this reallocation was necessary, we are pleased to see justice served for those who competed cleanly. At the IBU, we remain committed to protecting clean athletes and upholding the integrity of our sport.”

Prize Money Increase and Competition Schedules confirmed

The EB also agreed the distribution of prize money for the World Cup season 25/26 which it had previously decided to increase by 1.6 million Euros for the Olympic season to bring it level with seasons when there are IBU World Championships. The increase is focused on the top positions in individual competitions and will see a World Cup victory being worth 20,000 Euros in IBU prize money. The total prize money planned for the season is over 9.3 million Euros which represents a more than 56% increase since the last Olympic season in 2021-22.

The competition schedules for the Para Biathlon World Cup, IBU Cup and IBU Junior Cup season 25/26 were also approved by the EB in addition to the calendars for the IBU Cup and Junior Cup seasons 26/27 and 27/28.

The EB approved a set of rule changes for next season, which include additional rifle safety measures, providing the World Cup Total Score winner of the previous season with a personal start right for the first two events in the following season, and the deletion of tie-breaking procedures for the Total Score at the end of the season.

Organising Committee's Support

The EB also finalised the budget for 25/26 which will see a one-time increase of Organising Committee (OC) contributions intended to accelerate progress in event innovation, infrastructure readiness, and stakeholder experience, in line with the IBU’s Strategic Plan Target 2030. Moreover, the distribution of OC contributions for the next Olympic cycle was adjusted moving from lump sum payments to the inclusion of a performance based variable share.

The EB received various reports from the IBU Departments which included a review of the first-ever International Biathlon Day in May 2025, the record-breaking season for biathlon’s digital reach and engagements, and the preparation status of the Loop One Festival at Munich Olympic Park on 18/19 October 2025.

The meeting week in Salzburg continued with the annual IBU Organising Committee Meeting, in which close to 100 representatives from 30 OCs participated to discuss improvements and innovations at biathlon events.

Photo: IBU/Manzoni