Media

Media contact persons:

IBU Communications Director
Christian WINKLER
Phone: +43 664 19 22 429
Email: christian.winkler@ibu.at

IBU World Cup Media Manager
Mariya Osolodkina
+43 - 664 - 19 22 552
mariya.osolodkina@ibu.at

IBU Photo Manager
Christian Manzoni
+43 - 664 - 19 22 916
christian.manzoni@ibu.at

EBU TV delegate
Bettina Vecchi
+41 - 79 - 401 6183
vecchi@eurovision.net

Host Broadcaster key person on site
Producer/Director World Feed:
Jonna Smedberg, +358 44 421 4731
jonna.smedberg@yle.fi

Orginising committee Kontiolahti
Chief media officer
Heikki Hamunen
+358 40 035 0900
Email: media@kontiolahtibiathlon.com

Other key persons and contacts: 

President of the local Organising Committee Kimmo Turunen +358 50 563 3480
Event Manager Sami Leinonen +358 50 557 8003
Secretary General Jarno Lautamatti +358 43 218 0573

Kontiolahti Biathlon Stadium
Kontiolahti Biathlon Stadium is located on the shores of Lake Höytiäinen in the municipality of Kontiolahti.

The stadium is 14 km from the city centre of Joensuu and 25 km from Joensuu airport. Kontiolahti Biathlon Stadium is located 120 meters above the sea level.

The tracks vary between 89 and 129 meters above the sea level.

North Karelia, Kontiolahti, Joensuu

North Karelia, with a population of 165 000, is the easternmost region of Finland. Read more about North Karelia. 

Kontiolahti (="Bear Bay" in English, with "kontio" meaning "bear" and "lahti" meaning "bay") is a youthful municipality in North Karelia. It has relatively the most children and the population is more educated and has higher-than-average incomes.

Located in an excellent location near the central city, highway and the airport, Kontiolahti offers versatile opportunities for exercise and outdoor activities. Kontiolahti is world-famous for biathlon competitions. The municipality is constantly striving for growth and is known for the most brilliant attitude. www.playkontiolahti.fi

Joensuu, the capital and the commercial center of the North Karelian region, is situated 438 km northeast of Helsinki. Read more about Joensuu.

The Joensuu region has a population of approx. 123 000 inhabitants. The event is organized by Kontiolahti Sport Club in cooperation with Finnish Biathlon Federation, Kontiolahti Municipality, City of Joensuu and Regional Council of North Karelia at the Kontiolahti Biathlon Stadium.

Accommodation

If you need help with the accommodation, please contact Ms. Johanna Kellokumpu: accommodation@kontiolahtibiathlon.com

Transportation

The organiser offers free shuttle bus transportation based on request in advance: 

Broadcasters and media representavives can book transportation

1. From the airport/train station to the media hotel AND
2. Between the media hotels and the stadium (app. 20 minutes)
   • by filling the requests at https://ibu.mattersoft.fi/ibu/kontiolahti#/info or
   • by email at transportation@kontiolahtibiathlon.com

Note! The transport service is based only on requests in advance. We kindly ask you to leave the requests at the latest one day before the requested transportation.

Transportation office phone number: +358 400 376 626

Accreditation office is located in ground floor of Hotel Kimmel in Joensuu. Car passes and parking cards will be handed out at the accreditation office.

Address: Itäranta 1, 80100 Joensuu

Opening hours:

Contact: 

OC Chief of Accreditation: Tuija Lautamatti, accreditation@kontiolahtibiathlon.com, +358 40 5964911

The parking capacity in the stadium is limited during the event. Media has its own parking area close to the media entrance of the Kontiolahti Stadium (follow “Media” signs when arriving). Parking permits for the media parking area must be pre-ordered and will be handed out at the accreditation office.

Opening hours:

The Media Centre (see #10 on the map) offers a fast WLAN network and an optional LAN-cabling.

All moving media are requested to attend the briefing sessions in the media center as follows:

• Main briefing (obligatory for all registered photographers): Sat 30.11. 12.15 (2h prior to the race start)
• The daily briefings: Each competition day 1.5 hours prior to the race start.

All accredited moving media are required to wear a bib in the competition area to get access to the photo zones.

These bibs are available

• in the accreditation (TV Rights Holders) and
• in the media centre in coordination with the IBU Photo Manager, for example in the first briefing on Sat 30.11. (see above "Mandatory briefing for moving media"). For the bibs distributed in the media centre, a deposit of 20 € must be paid on the spot. The deposit will be returned when the bib is returned. 

Athletes requested in the media center (I-Zone)
Starting this season, a new request-based system will be implemented for the I-Zone. Athletes will only visit the media center if specifically requested. Event-dedicated WhatsApp groups have been created to manage interview requests and share important competition updates. Approved media representatives can submit interview requests for the top 6 athletes or top 3 teams through the phone number provided in the group. Please ensure all requests are sent no later than the end of the flower ceremony. Join the WhatsApp group for Kontiolahti here: https://chat.whatsapp.com/EbtArAtQyWp25drF9OsOyx

Questions about the I-Zone or WhatsApp group please contact IBU World Cup Media Manager Mariya Osolodkina mariya.osolodkina@ibu.at

Mixed zone
The mixed zone area has several dedicated TV and radio positions for live interviews. There will be a common area for those rights-holding broadcasters who have not booked a dedicated position, as well as for the written Media.

IBU will provide a basic package of competition-related pictures as handouts for editorial purposes. The images will be available immediately after the flower/medal ceremonies.

Click here to see the photos.

On each race-day, the café corner in the media center will serve soup free of charge as shown in the table below.

In addition snacks and drinks (water, coffee, tea, etc.) are served free of charge to accredited media during the media center opening hours:

On other days (non-race days), the accredited media can have soup in a restaurant tent for volunteers ("Lataamo"). 

Frequencies are applied through the Finnish Transport and Communications Agency Traficom.

Please contact Traficom at: radiotaajuudet@traficom.fi  

It can take up to 28 days to receive the frequencies from Traficom and thus, it is recommended to send the applications soonest possible and by the end of October at the latest.

Once Traficom has sent you the frequencies, please make sure to send the information further to Mr. Juho Hämäläinen (LOC/Bluesounds) at juho@bluesounds.fi for onsite coordination and confirmation purposes. Please contact Juho by 15 November, 2024. 

Wednesday 27.11.
13:00 - 17:00 Ski Training Men + Women

Thursday 28.11.
13:30 - 15:30 Training Men
16:00 - 18:00 Training Women

Friday 29.11.
13:30 - 15:30 Official Training Single Mixed Relay
16:00 - 18:00 Official Training Mixed Relay

Saturday 30.11.
10:00 - 11:30 Training Mixed
13:30 - 14:00 Zeroing
14:15 Single Mixed Relay (W+M) Relay
15:10 Flower Ceremony Single Mixed Relay
16:00 - 16:30 Zeroing
16:45 Mixed Relay (W+M) Relay
18:05 Flower ceremony Mixed Relay 

Sunday 1.12.
14:00 - 14:30 Zeroing
14:45 Men 4x7.5km Relay
16:15 Flower Ceremony Men 4x7.5km Relay
17:40 - 18:10 Zeroing
18:25 Women 4x6km Relay
19:55 Flower Ceremony Women 4x6km Relay
 

Monday 2.12.
13:30 - 15:30 Training Women
16:00 - 18:00 Official Training Men

Tuesday 3.12.
13:00 - 15:00 Training Women
16:20 - 17:10 Zeroing
17:20 Men 15km Short Individual
19:00 Flower Ceremony Women 15km Short Individual

Wednesday 4.12.
13:00 - 15:00 Training Men
16:20 - 17:10 Zeroing
17:20 Women 12.5km Short Individual
18:55 Flower Ceremony Women 12.5km Short Individual

Thursday 5.12.
13:30 - 15:30 Training Women
16:00 - 18:00 Training Men

Friday 6.12.
13:30 - 15:00 Training Women
16:20 - 17:10 Zeroing
17:20 Men 10km Sprint
18:50 Flower Ceremony Men 10km Sprint

Saturday 7.12.
14:00 - 15:30 Training Men
17:10 - 18:00 Zeroing
18:10 Women 7.5km Sprint
19:35 Flower Ceremony Women 7.5km Sprint
 

Sunday 8.12.
14:45 - 15:15 Zeroing
15:30 Men 15km Mass Start
16:25 Flower Ceremony Women 12.5km Mass Start
17:25 - 17:55 Zeroing
18:10 Women 12.5km Mass Start
19:05 Flower Ceremony Women 12.5km Mass Start 

Click here to see the course maps for the races mentioned below: 

Saturday 30.11.2024

• Single mixed relay (W+M): Women 2 x 1,5 km + Men 2 x 1,5 km + Women 2 x 1,5 km + Men 3 x 1,5 km
• Mixed relay (W+M): 4 x 3 x 2,0 km

Sunday 1.12.2024

• Relay Men 4 x 7,5 km (3 x 2,5 km / leg)
• Relay Women 4 x 6 km (3 x 2,0 km / leg)

Tuesday 3.12.2024

• Short Individual Men: 15 km (5 x 3 km)

Wednesday 4.12.2024

• Short Individual Women: 12,5 km (5 x 2,5km)

Friday 6.12.2024

• Sprint Men: 10 km (5 x 3,3 km)

Saturday 7.12.2024

• Sprint Women: 7,5 km (3 x 2,5 km)

Sunday 8.12.2024

• Mass Start Men: 15 km (5 x 3 km)
• Mass Start Women: 12,5 km (5 x 2,5km)