Biathlon-Dahlin steps down after eight years rebuilding trust in biathlon

STOCKHOLM, Sept 17 : Olle Dahlin will leave the International Biathlon Union presidency this weekend after helping rescue the sport from a crisis that threatened its reputation and Olympic funding.

The 72-year-old Swede, who has reached the governing body's term limit, took office in 2018 amid corruption and doping scandals that had prompted the International Olympic Committee to freeze funding for the IBU.

Dahlin's Norwegian predecessor, Anders Besseberg, had resigned after more than two decades as president and was later convicted of aggravated corruption by a Norwegian court.

He was sentenced to three years in prison after the court found he had accepted improper benefits and acted in Russia's favour, including in matters related to anti-doping cases. He has continued to deny wrongdoing, appealing the rulings to higher courts.

"It was a crisis - it wasn't good governance, it was bad governance," Dahlin told Reuters in an interview at a Stockholm hotel. 

"But as someone said before, don't waste the crisis, use it, and that's how it was. There was only one way out in the situation we had."

A former biathlete and cross-country-skier, Dahlin drew on decades of experience as a businessman in the paper and pulp industries to set about restoring biathlon's reputation and integrity. 

"You go in, and you look around, and you analyse," he said. "You set the strategy, you set the organisation and then you execute, and off you go.

"We didn't need a whole lot of time for the analysis phase, if I can put it like that," he added with a chuckle. 

The IBU appointed an external review commission to investigate its past conduct and identify necessary reforms.

"It was obvious that there hadn't been any transparency previously, and we wanted to ensure that we had transparency and that everything came up and was laid out on the table," he said.

That review led to the adoption of a new constitution in 2019 and the creation of the independent Biathlon Integrity Unit to ensure the sport remained on the right course. 

POPULARITY GROWTH

Alongside the governance reforms, the IBU introduced initiatives designed to broaden biathlon's appeal, including funding for smaller nations and experiments with roller skis and laser rifles to make the sport more accessible. 

The initiatives were a success. At the Milano-Cortina Games, more than 170,000 spectators attended biathlon events, accounting for around 13 per cent of all Olympic tickets sold.

"I don't know if proud is the right word, but what I feel is most valuable is the great confidence among all our stakeholders," he said.

That included three groups the IBU works with directly: athletes, national federations and organising committees, Dahlin said. 

Russian athletes remain suspended from IBU competition following Russia's invasion of Ukraine in 2022, and Dahlin said both the war and outstanding governance issues would need to be addressed before they could return.

"The full-scale war against one of our members, which is Ukraine, should end. Hopefully it will happen," he said.

"We already had a program before the war ... now there are also a number of checkpoints to be able to get back there. There is a lot to work on."

Dahlin must step down under the term limits contained in the constitution he helped introduce, having served three terms on the IBU's executive board.

He plans, however, to remain involved in biathlon, the Olympic movement and anti-doping work. 

"As I often say to my colleagues here, I'm not going to the moon," he said. "I've been involved in biathlon for more than 50 years. My heart is there, and if I can contribute both for biathlon and international sport, then I'll do so."