Estonia – A Rising Biathlon Nation

By Annika Saunus

Back in 2016, when the back then 19-year-old Regina Ermits gave her World Cup debut for Team Estonia, hardly anyone in her country even knew what Biathlon was, let alone followed the sport.

“When I started, biathlon did not really exist, the conditions were not great,” Ermits recalls. “But growing up inside of this for the past eight years, it’s so cool to see everything we have done and where we are now”.

The Role of Television in Popularizing Biathlon

A lot has changed in the small Baltic country, that is chosen to host the IBU World Championships Biathlon in 2027. But how did they get there?

“The most important factor is that the Estonian national TV now broadcasts all the World Cup events,” says Kauri Kõiv, the team’s sport director and former Estonian biathlete.

“They are available on free TV, which means that every family in Estonia can watch it.”

The Pandemic’s Surprising Silver Lining

While the Covid-19-Pandemic had massive downsides for many, it had a positive side effect for the development of Estonian biathlon.

“It actually helped us a lot because people were just sitting at home and the biathlon races were on television,” Kõiv remembers.

“Nobody could go to Antholz or Ruhpolding, but you could watch it on TV”.

But does a growing fan base also add pressure on the Estonian athletes to perform well?

“I think the biggest pressure on me is from myself,” says Ermits, who started into the season with a top-10 result in the individual competition in Kontiolahti.

“I’m sometimes still surprised that there are so many people watching, but I’m just very happy that they are always there, whether it goes well in races or not.”

Nurturing Young Talent

Over the past five years, the combination of skiing and shooting has not only become the most popular winter sport among Estonians but has also attracted a growing number of young talents.

“We started this youngster series,” says Kõiv, who was involved in the planning. “In the first year, we had maybe 60 kids, but in the following years we had 80, 90, 100 participants. Our best race recently saw 150 kids showing up.”

The figures show that Kõiv was able to turn around a trend he had witnessed.

“We had lost a lot of kids to football and athletics, because kids aged eight to twelve were not yet allowed to shoot with real rifles in races, they were only allowed to practice,” recalls the sports director. “I made a decision to buy air rifles and give them to all the clubs, so that the kids could finally start competing and all use the same rifles.”

Preparing for the 2027 World Championships

The future sounds promising for Biathlon Estonia, but are they ready to host World Championships in a place, that has only ever hosted one World Cup?

“There are still a lot of things to do, one of our main job is to build a big media center, that’s in the progress right now,” Kõiv explains.

“It will serve as a media center during the event but afterwards can be used as a multi-functional hall, including a gym, testing center and much more.”

A Career Highlight on Home Ground

With the 2026 Olympic Games in Antholz, Italy, and the 2027 World Championships in Otepää, Estonia, the career highlight for Estonian biathletes seems to be a hard pick.

“Usually it’s the Olympic Games, but when we look at 2027, maybe some athletes think the World Champs on home ground are a little more important,” Kõiv believes.

For the now 28-year-old Regina Ermits, the decision seems quite clear.

“I have been part of this journey for so long, so to stand here and have the World Championships on home ground – I think it’s the biggest thing that we can have as Estonians,” says Ermits.

“It’s an honor to be part of it and to have it at home.”

And it seems like with that, her most cherished career goal is within reach: “I’ve always felt that whenever I leave biathlon, I want to leave something behind, so I hope that what I’m doing is making the path for younger athletes.”