How to qualify in Para biathlon
How para biathletes qualify for the World Championships
There is no qualifying race and no per-country quota in the rules. A para biathlete can race at the World Championships if, by the day of the race, they have:
- 360 IBU Para Qualifying Points, or
- 360 FIS Para Cross-Country Points on the world ranking list.
Unlike most rankings, lower points are better here: points measure how far behind the winner an athlete finished. So "360 points" is a ceiling, not a target to climb to.
An athlete who misses the mark can be entered on a wild card, if they have raced at least once and have 640 points or better.
The World Cup has a stricter mark, 400 points, with wild cards from 800.
How the points are worked out
For each sprint, individual, middle, pursuit or sprint pursuit qualification race:
points = ((athlete's time ÷ winner's time) − 1) × 800 + race penalty
So a winner scores the race penalty alone, and an athlete 10% slower than the winner scores 80 plus the penalty.
Who may race at all
- Athletes must be internationally classified, with a sport class status of Confirmed, or Review with a fixed review date of 2025 or later.
- Athletes with status New may race only below World Cup level and earn no qualifying points.
- Everyone must pass an IBU online safety course and meet the range safety rules.
Wild cards
Wild cards are asked for by the national federation, which must explain why the athlete deserves entry. There is no limit on the number of wild cards for a World Cup or World Championships.
Per-country numbers
The rules for the Paralympic Winter Games say the final quota is set by the IPC and the IBU. For World Championships, the rules give no per-country limit; the team staff allowed rises with the number of athletes (1 athlete, 4 staff, up to 7 or more athletes, 10 staff).