Biathlon is one of the most-watched winter sports in Europe and will be one of the highlights for many fans at the Milan Cortina Winter Olympics.
It's less popular in the United States — a rare example of a winter sport in which the U.S. has never won an Olympic medal.
This time, however, the U.S. national team heads to the Winter Games with high hopes and plenty of support back home.
Participation in the U.S. has been hampered by a limited access to shooting ranges and the high cost of biathlon rifles. But that's changing due to an investment in new biathlon centers and a laser rifle program that's bringing the sport to cross country ski centers across the country.
John Farra, U.S. Biathlon's director of sport development, launched the laser rifle program by setting up ranges at youth cross-country ski festivals where skiers lined up 10-deep for a turn on the mat. He also started a pilot program that loans rifles to Nordic centers for short periods.
''If we can continue to do this kind of targeted partnerships with Nordic communities, at the end of the program the kids will be biathletes, not just kids who have shot laser rifles,'' he said.
U.S. Biathlon membership almost doubled in the last seven years — from 818 in 2018 to 1,596 in 2025. That's still well below the numbers in leading European countries such as Norway, whose biathlon federation has about 8,000 members.
New biathlon ranges are popping up across the country. Snowblower manufacturer Ariens Company built a world-class range in Brillion, Wisconsin, and the American Birkebeiner — the largest Nordic ski race in North America — is partnering in the development of another range.
