What the 500-person limit means in practice

When the number of people in the competition area is limited to 500 it means restricting a lot of activities. Kontiolahti Sport Club's organisers have agreed the reductions in personnel with the International Biathlon Union.

- In practical terms we have looked for the minimum staffing with which we can complete the competition. As far as volunteers are concerned the situation is good because many of them can participate in a number of roles. This means people can move from one role to another. So an individual can do one thing in the morning and later work, for example, on the shooting range. This way we can keep personnel within the given limit, the meeting's assistant director Kimmo Turunen explained.

Normally the club's own volunteers number 600-700. Now it's about 150, with less than 100 of these being on the technical side.

- In a normal World Club meet there are about 200 staff on the technical side, which has now been scaled down to less than half. The shooting range demands quite a large number, as do the start and finish areas. Then there are security personnel, to ensure the safety of the competition, says Turunen. Televising and other media add another hundred or so.

Image: Irma Lehikoinen