Hamburg - Norway's Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is the familiar man to beat as the most successful athlete in world winter sport history aims for more biathlon silverware. Bjoerndalen, 35, will be at the season-opening World Cup races in Ostersund, Sweden, from Wednesday onwards, but the top women's contender Magdalena Neuner of Germany has to sit out the event due to a flu.
Team doctor Klaus-Juergen Marquardt that "we are taking no risks" with the six-time world champion Neuner at the start of a long season and highlighted by the Vancouver Olympics February 12-28, 2010.
"Olympic gold would be the highlight," said the 22-year-old Neuner.
The German women have won three of the last four World Cup titles from Kati Wilhelm, Andrea Henkel and Neuner, and want to return to the top after Sweden's Helena Jonsson stole the trophy last year.
Jonsson will be a top rival again in Vancouver and the World Cup, with France also traditionally boasting a strong team and Norway led by Tora Berger.
But the top Norwegians are Bjoerndalen and Emil Hegle Svendsen on the men's side.
Bjoerndalen surpassed Ingemar Stenmark last season with now 88 World Cup wins (plus one in cross-country skiing) comapred to the 86 the Swedish alpine skier achieved in his career.
Bjoerndalen boasts six World Cup titles (including 2009), 14 world titles (four of them in 2009) and five Olympic golds (a famous sweep of all four in 2002).
But he came up empty-handed with "only" two silvers and a bronze, a result he hopes to correct in Vancouver where he wants to peak.
"I will not try to be in top form early. It is better to raise the form for the highlight," Bjoerndalen said after a modest 11th-place finish in a cross-country ski race in mid-November.
Poland's Tomas Sikora, new power Austria with mass start world champion Dominik Landertinger and Simon Eder, as well as the Germans led by three-times 2006 Olympic champion Michael Greis are the main rivals.
"I am quite optimistic," said Greis, who had to overcome some health problems in pre-season training.
The season starts Wednesday with a women's 15km event and the men have their opening event over 20km on Thursday. The final race is a mixed relay on March 28, 2010, in Khanty-Mansiysk, Russia.
