1978–79 Biathlon World Cup

The 1978–79 Biathlon World Cup was a multi-race tournament over a season of biathlon, organised by the UIPMB (Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon). The season started on 10 January 1979 in Jáchymov, Czechoslovakia, and ended on 8 April 1979 in Bardufoss, Norway. It was the second season of the Biathlon World Cup, and it was only held for men.

Calendar

Below is the World Cup calendar for the 1978–79 season.^[1][2][3]

Location	Date	Individual	Sprint	Relay
Jáchymov	10–12 January	●	●	●
Antholz-Anterselva	21–24 January	●	●	●
Ruhpolding	28 February–2 March	●	●	●
Sodankylä	30 March–1 April	●	●	●
Bardufoss	6–8 April	●	●	●
Total		5	5	5

*The relays were technically unofficial races as they did not count towards anything in the World Cup.

World Cups

World Cup 1 in Jáchymov
Date	Event	Podium	Top 10
10 January	20 km individual[1][2][3][4]	1.  Jürgen Grundler (GDR)^[α] 1:15:06.2 (1)	4.  Terje Krokstad (NOR); 5.  Zdeněk Pavlíček (TCH); 6.  Thomas Klinger (GDR);^[α] 7.  Andreas Hess (GDR); 8.  Viktor Avdejev (URS); 9.  Wolfgang Schütze (GDR);^[α] 10.  Svein Engen (NOR);
		2.  Roar Nilsen (NOR) +0:00.2 (2)
		3.  Eberhard Rösch (GDR) +1:04.2 (2)
11 January	10 km sprint[1][2][3][5]	1.  Rudolf Horn (AUT) 36:38 (1)	4.  Stig Kvistad (NOR);^[α] 5.  Terje Krokstad (NOR); 6.  Eberhard Rösch (GDR); 7.  Gerold Eichhorn (GDR);^[α] 8.  Andreas Hess (GDR); 9.  Jürgen Grundler (GDR); 10.  Yuriy İvanov Mitev (BUL);
		2.  Frank Ullrich (GDR) +0:36 (3)
		3.  Sigvart Bjøntegaard (NOR)^[α] +0:50 (1)
12 January	4 × 7.5 km relay[2][6]	1.  East Germany 1:57:19 Mathias Jung Frank Ullrich Manfred Beer Eberhard Rösch	4.  Poland 2:04:04 (Trebunia, Michniak, Latawick, Rapacz); 5.  Austria 2:05:00 (Horn, Dockner, Koll, Eder); 6.  Italy 2:06:45 (Midali, Jordan, Tiraboschi, Weiss); 7.  Czechoslovakia 2:09:01; 8.  France 2:10:17; 9.  Bulgaria 2:11:07; 10.  United Kingdom 2:11:54;
		2.  Soviet Union 1:58:36.9 (4) Vyacheslav Tolkachev Sergei Peunkov Vladimir Sokolov Viktor Avdejev
		3.  Norway 2:02:18 Tor Svendsberget Terje Krokstad Roar Nilsen Odd Lirhus

World Cup 2 in Antholz-Anterselva
Date	Event	Podium	Top 10
21 January (?)[7]	10 km sprint[1][2][3][8]	1.  Alexander Tikhonov (URS) (1)	5.  Vladimir Alikin (URS);
		2.  Vladimir Barnashov (URS) (0)
		3.  Klaus Siebert (GDR)
23 January (?)	20 km individual[1][2][3][8]	1.  Vladimir Barnashov (URS)	9.  Frank Ullrich (GDR); 10.  Eberhard Rösch (GDR);
		2.  Heinz Böttcher (GDR)
		3.  Klaus Siebert (GDR)
24 January (?)	4 × 7.5 km relay[2][8]	1.  Soviet Union	...
		2.  Norway
		3.  East Germany

World Championships in Ruhpolding
Date	Event	Podium	Top 10
28 January	20 km individual[1][2][9]	1.  Klaus Siebert (GDR) 1:07:40.1 (0+0+1+0)	4.  Frank Ullrich (GDR); 5.  Raimo Seppänen (FIN); 6.  Jaromír Šimůnek (TCH); 7.  Heikki Ikola (FIN); 8.  Vladimir Alikin (URS); 9.  Eberhard Rösch (GDR); 10.  Alfred Eder (AUT);
		2.  Alexander Tikhonov (URS) +1:42.0 (0+0+2+0)
		3.  Sigleif Johansen (NOR) +1:57.3 (0+0+0+1)
31 January	10 km sprint[1][2][10]	1.  Frank Ullrich (GDR) 40:35.3 (0+0)	4.  Vladimir Alikin (URS); 5.  Franz Weber (AUT); 6.  Alexander Tikhonov (URS); 7.  Jaromír Šimůnek (TCH); 8.  Alfred Eder (AUT); 9.  Andrezj Rapacz (POL); 10.  Svein Engen (NOR);
		2.  Odd Lirhus (NOR) +0:53.2 (1+2)
		3.  Luigi Weiss (ITA) +1:11.0 (0+2)
2 February	4 × 7.5 km relay[1][11]	1.  East Germany 1:54:48.5 (1) Manfred Beer (0+0) Klaus Siebert (0+0) Frank Ullrich (0+0) Eberhard Rösch (0+1)	4.  Norway 1:58:48.6 (4) (Lirhus (0+2), Søbak (0+1), Nilsen (0+0), Johansen (1+0)); 5.  Italy 2:01:59.0 (1) (Midali (0+0), Tiraboschi (0+0), Zingerle (0+0), Weiss (1+0)); 6.  Austria 2:02:12.5 (0) (Horn (0+0), Weber (0+0), Koll (0+0), Eder (0+0)); 7.  Czechoslovakia 2:02:47.9 (2) (Suchánek (0+1), Šimůnek (0+0), Zelinka (0+0), Pavlíček (0+1)); 8.  West Germany 2:02:58.0 (2) (Estner (0+2), Schweiger (0+0), Kanamüller (0+0), Winkler (0+0)); 9.  Poland 2:03:09.7 (6) (Trebunia (2+0), Rapacz (1+1), Latawiec (0+2), Michniak (0+0)); 10.  Sweden 2:03:56.1 (1) (Andersson (0+0), Korpela (0+1), Joki (0+0), Adolfsson (0+0));
		2.  Finland 1:56:26.7 (1) Simo Halonen (0+0) Erkki Antila (0+1) Raimo Seppänen (0+0) Heikki Ikola (0+0)
		3.  Soviet Union 1:58:14.6 (3) Vladimir Alikin (0+0) Vladimir Barnashov (0+0) Nikolay Kruglov (0+2) Alexander Tikhonov (0+1)

World Cup 3 in Sodankylä
Date	Event	Podium	Top 10
30 March	20 km individual[1][2][3][12]	1.  Anatoly Alyabyev (URS) 1:08:22 (0)	4.  Eberhard Rösch (GDR); 6.  Frank Ullrich (GDR);
		2.  Klaus Siebert (GDR) +2:22 (1)
		3.  Kjell Søbak (NOR) +3:37 (2)
31 March	10 km sprint[1][2][3][13]	1.  Klaus Siebert (GDR) 32:24 (0+0)	4.  Anatoly Alyabyev (URS); 5.  Frank Ullrich (GDR); 6.  Arto Sutinen (FIN); 7.  Alexander Tikhonov (URS);
		2.  Kjell Søbak (NOR) +0:27 (0+2)
		3.  Vladimir Barnashov (URS) +0:44 (0+1)
1 April	4 × 7.5 km relay[2][13]	1.  East Germany 1:48:51 (2) Heinz Böttcher Klaus Siebert Frank Ullrich Eberhard Rösch	4.  Norway 1:52:38 (6) (Lirhus, Nilsen, Søbak, Johansen); 5.  West Germany 1:53:06 (5); 6.  Austria 1:53:29 (4);
		2.  Finland 1:50:23 (1)
		3.  Soviet Union 1:51:48

World Cup 4 in Bardufoss
Date	Event	Podium	Top 10
6 April	20 km individual[1][2][3][14]	1.  Alexander Tikhonov (URS) 1:06:45 (2)	4.  Vladimir Baranchov (URS); 5.  Anatoly Alyabyev (URS); 6.  Gerd Winkler (FRG); 7.  Sigleif Johansen (NOR); 8.  Klaus Siebert (GDR); 9.  Jürgen Koll (GDR); 10.  Heinz Böttcher (GDR);
		2.  Frank Ullrich (GDR) +0:41 (1)
		3.  Vladimir Alikin (URS) +1:17 (3)
7 April	10 km sprint[1][2][3][15]	1.  Sigleif Johansen (NOR) 36:15 (0)	4.  Roar Nilsen (NOR); 5.  Anatoly Alyabyev (URS); 6.  Frank Ullrich (GDR); 7.  Mauri Lahtila (FIN); 8.  Heinz Böttcher (GDR); 9.  Yves Mougel (FRA); 10.  Vladimir Alikin (URS);
		2.  Vladimir Barnashov (URS) +0:02 (1)
		3.  Klaus Siebert (GDR) +0:12 (0)
8 April	4 × 7.5 km relay[2][15]	1.  Soviet Union 1:38:56 (3) Vladimir Alikin Anatoly Alyabyev Vladimir Barnashov Alexander Tikhonov	4.  Finland 1:42:48; 5.  Sweden 1:43:38;
		2.  East Germany 1:39:32 (1) Heinz Böttcher Klaus Siebert Frank Ullrich Eberhard Rösch
		3.  Norway 1:41:29 (2) Odd Lirhus Kjell Søbak Roar Nilsen Sigleif Johansen

Results

Overall World Cup[1][2][15]
Rank	Name	Points
1	Klaus Siebert	143
2	Frank Ullrich	136
3	Vladimir Barnashov	128
4	Alexander Tikhonov	114
4	Eberhard Rösch	114
4	Vladimir Alikin	114
7	Sigleif Johansen	110
7	Heinz Böttcher	110
9	Alfred Eder	102
10	Heikki Ikola	98
...
12	Kjell Søbak	82
...
15	Roar Nilsen	69
...
18	Svein Engen	62
...
20	Terje Krokstad	59
21	Odd Lirhus	58

Achievements

First World Cup career victory

•  Roar Nilsen (NOR), 26, in his 2nd season — the WC 1 Individual in Jáchymov; it also was his first podium
•  Rudolf Horn (AUT), 24, in his 2nd season — the WC 1 Sprint in Jáchymov; it also was his first podium and the first podium for an Austrian biathlete
•  Alexander Tikhonov (URS), 32, in his 2nd season — the WC 2 Sprint in Antholz-Anterselva; first podium was 1977–78 Sprint in Sodankylä
•  Anatoly Alyabyev (URS), 27, in his 2nd season — the WC 3 Individual in Sodankylä; first podium was 1977–78 Individual in Murmansk

First World Cup podium

•  Terje Krokstad (NOR), 22, in his 2nd season — no. 3 in the WC 1 Individual in Jáchymov
•  Luigi Weiss (ITA), 27, in his 2nd season — no. 3 in the World Championships Sprint in Ruhpolding; it also was the first podium for an Italian biathlete
•  Kjell Søbak (NOR), 21, in his 1st season — no. 3 in the WC 3 Individual in Sodankylä
•  Vladimir Alikin (URS), 21, in his 1st season — no. 3 in the WC 4 Individual in Bardufoss

Victory in this World Cup (all-time number of victories in parentheses)

•  Klaus Siebert (GDR), 2 (5) first places
•  Alexander Tikhonov (URS), 2 (2) first places
•  Frank Ullrich (GDR), 1 (4) first places
•  Vladimir Barnashov (URS), 1 (2) first places
•  Sigleif Johansen (NOR), 1 (2) first places
•  Roar Nilsen (NOR), 1 (1) first places
•  Rudolf Horn (AUT), 1 (1) first places
•  Anatoly Alyabyev (URS), 1 (1) first places

Notes

1. ^{1 2 3 4 5 6} In the individual races in Jáchymov some non-World Cup racers participated. In the 20 km individual Jürgen Grundler, Thomas Klinger and Wolfgang Schütze, among others, were non-World Cup racers, and so for World Cup purposes Roar Nilsen won the race, with Rösch and Krokstad coming 2nd and 3rd. Pavlíček, Hess, Avdejev, Engen, Tor Svendsberget, Mathias Jung and Heinz Böttcher came 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th respectively and received the appropriate World Cup points.^[4][16] In the 10 km sprint, some of the non-World Cup racers were Sigvart Bjøntegaard, Stig Kvistad and Gerold Eichhorn, and so they did not receive any World Cup points, and for World Cup purposes Terje Krokstad came 3rd in that race and received the appropriate World Cup points, with Rösch, Hess, Grundler and Mitev coming 4th, 5th, 6th and 7th, respectively, and receiving the appropriate World Cup points.^[5]

Retirements

Following notable biathletes retired after the 1978–79 season:

•  Simo Halonen (FIN)
•  Tor Svendsberget (NOR)^[17]
•  Nikolay Kruglov (URS)

References

1. Sportsboken 79-80 [The Sports Book 79-80] (in Norwegian). Stavanger: Dreyer Bok. ISBN 82-7096-076-4. (Norwegian)
2. "Wintersport Charts Weltcup World Cup Biathlon 1979". Wintersport Charts. Retrieved 15 September 2014.
3. "Statistiche Biathlon" [Statistics Biathlon]. Neve Italia (in Italian). Retrieved 22 October 2015. (Italian) (registration required)
4. "World Cup-resultater" [World Cup results]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 11 January 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
5. "Terje Krokstad leder World Cup" [Terje Krokstad leads the World Cup]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 12 January 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
6. "Skiskyting" [Biathlon]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 13 January 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
7. "Skiskyting" [Biathlon]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 18 November 1978. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
8. Thore-Erik Thoresen (27 January 1979). "Skiskyting-VM med minst 16 favoritter" [Biathlon World Championships with at least 16 favourites]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
9. "World Championship Biathlon 1979 - Ruhpolding/Ruhpolding (GER) – Men 20 km Individual". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
10. "World Championship Biathlon 1979 - Ruhpolding/Ruhpolding (GER) – Men 10 km Sprint". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
11. "World Championship Biathlon 1979 - Ruhpolding/Ruhpolding (GER) – Men 4 x 7,5 km Relay". IBU Datacenter. International Biathlon Union. Retrieved 14 September 2014.
12. "Skiskyting" [Biathlon]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 31 March 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
13. "Skiskyting" [Biathlon]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 2 April 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
14. "Tikhonov vant i Bardufoss" [Tikhonov won in Bardufoss]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 7 April 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
15. "Sigleif tok siste stikk..." [Sigleif had the last laugh...]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 9 April 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
16. "Til topps tross tap" [To the top despite loss]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). 11 January 1979. Retrieved 14 September 2014. (Norwegian) (subscription required)
17. Stenberg, Nils Petter (6 December 1979). "- Jobber gjerne med eliten, sier Tor S." [- Works gladly with the elite, says Tor S.]. Aftenposten (in Norwegian). Retrieved 1 August 2015. (Norwegian) (subscription required)