Fillon Maillet finished third in the overall World Cup standings three years in a row and it could be his breakthrough year at major events.

The 29-year-old has two world relay titles but has yet to win a gold medal individually at the World Championships or Olympics.

His best result at Pyeongchang 2018 was 29th in the mass start.

Compatriot Émilien Jacquelin has been more successful at the World Championships - with back-to-back pursuit titles - but is also seeking his first Olympic medal, now sitting second in the overall World Cup standings.

Individual 2018 champion Johannes Thingnes Bø is not in the form that has won him the last three overall World Cup golds, but cannot be ruled out as a major contender, nor can his brother Tarjei Bø who is an eight-time world medallist individually.

Vetle Sjåstad Christiansen and Sturla Holm Lægreid will be contenders for the medals too and will be part of a Norwegian squadron who will be hard to beat in the relay.

Sebastian Samuelsson from Sweden will likely be Jacquelin's closest pursuit challenger as a world and Olympic silver medallist in the discipline.

New champions will be crowned as France's Martin Fourcade and Germany's Arnd Peiffer have since retired.

Røiseland was the sprint silver medallist from Pyeongchang 2018 and has been strong in the discipline again this World Cup season, as well as in the pursuit, leading both so far.

Young Swede Elvira Öberg is her closest challenger in both in what has been a season to remember so far - overshadowing her older sister Hanna Öberg, who is the defending individual Olympic champion and 2019 world champion.

Hanna Öberg, much like Johannes Thingnes Bø, is not in the shape she was last season but will be an individual contender alongside Czech biathlete Markéta Davidová who is the 2021 world champion.

Lisa Theresa Hauser of Austria is the defending mass start world champion and is expected to face opposition from Italian Dorothea Wierer and Russian Olympic Committee's (ROC) Kristina Reztsova.

Defending World Cup champion Tiril Eckhoff has struggled to make the impact she did last season, failing to make the podium once individually.

That said, the Norwegian - who won medals in all six disciplines at the 2021 World Championships including four golds - cannot be dismissed.

She is a five-time Olympic medallist, with two of these coming individually with back-to-back bronzes in the mass start.

France, the ROC and Sweden will be the main contenders for the relay title.

The competition starts tomorrow, scheduled to run until February 19 at the Kuyangshu Nordic Center and Biathlon Center.