International Biathlon Union

From 1953 to 1993, the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon (UIPMB) oversaw the sports of modern pentathlon and biathlon. Under the auspices of the UIPMB, the first biathlon World Championships for men were held in 1958, in Saalfelden, Austria. Two years later, at Squaw Valley 1960, men biathletes had their début at the Winter Olympics.

Women biathletes had their first own World Championships in 1984, in Chamonix, France. The 1989 Biathlon World Championships, held in Feistritz, Austria, were the first to hold the men’s and women’s competitions simultaneously. Three years later, women’s biathlon made its Olympic début as a full medal sport, at Albertville 1992.

On 2 July 1993, in London, Great Britain, the biathlon section of the UIPMB declared its independence to form the current International Biathlon Union (IBU), with 57 founding members. As of January 2026, the IBU has 64 member federations (including eight provisional members). The IBU’s office is located in Anif, Austria, and the federation’s current president is Sweden’s Olle Dahlin.

Biathlon has also been included in the programme of the Winter Youth Olympics since the competition’s inception, at Innsbruck 2012, with boys, girls, and mixed events.

Para biathlon has appeared at the Winter Paralympics since Innsbruck 1988. The discipline was overseen by the International Paralympic Committee (IPC) until July 2022, when it transferred governance jointly to the IBU and the International Ski and Snowboard Federation (FIS). Since 2024, Para biathlon is fully governed by the IBU.