National Biathlon Invitation kicks off in NW China

LANZHOU -- The National Biathlon Invitation kicked off in Baiyin City of northwest China's Gansu Province on Sunday and will run until Feb 25.

The tournament held at the Baiyin national snow sports training base features 91 athletes from 10 teams.

Eleven events including the women's 7.5km sprint, men's 10km sprint and men's 12.5km pursuit are on the competition schedule.

Built in late 2019, the training base has a service center with over 100 rooms, a 75,000-square-meter ski resort, an indoor training hall and a biathlon training area. The National Biathlon Championships were held at the base earlier this month.

Zhou Jinping, director of Gansu Provincial Winter Sports Management Center, introduced that the development of winter sports in the northwestern province has obtained a bright prospect since the Beijing Winter Olympics.

According to statistics released by the provincial sports bureau, nearly 100 winter sports events are held in Gansu Province that engage about five million people in winter sports each year.