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Biathlon is challenging at the best of times, in heavy snowfall it may be more difficult. How will the women cope in the 10km pursuit at the 2022 Beijing Winter Olympics?

Marte Olsbu Roiseland already has three medals under her belt in China – gold in the sprint and mixed relay plus bronze in the 15km individual. She evidently doesn’t need any additional help but the format of this race means she will begin with a 30.9-second head-start over her nearest rival following Friday’s sprint win, in which she shot clean. If no-one catches her, it would be the second consecutive Olympics where the women’s sprint- pursuit double is achieved – the now-retired Laura Dahlmeier did it in 2018. The good news for neutrals is that three outstanding contenders will begin within a minute of Roiseland; Elvira Oberg, Dorothea Wierer and Lisa Theresa Hauser. Swedish rising star Oberg, 22, has seven podium finishes in this season’s World Cup, including three wins. Wierer, 31, celebrated the third Olympic bronze of her career on Friday and has put biathlon on the map in Italy, winning three world titles, including the pursuit event in 2020. Hauser, meanwhile, became the first Austrian woman to win a biathlon world title last year, triumphing in the mass start.