Before the championships even started there was controversy with three Russian biathletes being sent home for having failed drugs tests during a previous round of the World Cup in Ostersund, Sweden.
Drama started on the second day with reigning champion, Andrea Henkel disqualified before the women's pursuit even started after she accidentally loaded her rifle with live ammunition and fired a round during a pre-race practice,[3] leaving Helena Jonsson from Sweden to capture a surprise gold medal, moving into the medal positions from fifth place only after shooting clear on the final shoot.
Then during the men's 12.5 km pursuit, 15 competitors at least, including race leader and eventual winner Ole Einar Bjørndalen, skied the wrong way at the start of the first lap.
[9] The mass start for men saw Bjørndalen going for his 4th victory of the championships, and into the last shooting stage he was comfortably in the lead but then with 2 shots missed, Dominik Landertinger and Christoph Sumann from Austria and Ivan Tcherezov from Russia were able all get within 5 seconds of him.
The women's relay was won by Russia with an impressive margin over Germany with France taking bronze.