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Qualifying
Athletes may participate in a World Cup event if they have met certain qualifying standards earlier in their career. They must have finished within 20 percent of the average of the top three finishers in a European Cup competition, or placed in the top half of the field at the Junior World Championships.
Additionally, they must qualify to represent their nation. Each nation has only a specified number of start spots for every World Cup race, except the pursuit and mass start, which are determined by other means. The basic quota for the top twenty nations, which is determined by the previous season’s Nations Cup, is three athlete starts in a sprint or individual race. Other nations only receive two starts.
Nations also receive an additional athlete start for each athlete that was in the top fifty of the World Cup overall classification of the previous season. The maximum number of athletes that can start in any given race is seven, combining the basic quota and additions.
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