The final biathlon World Cup team events, before the 2026 Milan Cortina Olympics, took center snow in Nove Mesto na Morave, Czechia on Saturday with the single mixed relay and mixed relay competitions.

In the single mixed relay, the competition was fierce and there were incredibly tight margins between the teams down to the wire.

At the finish, Finland's Tero Seppala and Leonhard Pfund of Germany were neck and neck to the line, but the German biathlete was able to overtake Seppala for the win. The German team was overjoyed over their victory, but unfortunately the party didn't last long.

Before the podium celebration, it was announced that the German team was disqualified, due to a safety violation on the shooting range during the single mixed relay. It was ruled that German biathlete Marlene Fichtner did not properly secure her rifle after one of the shooting stages along the course.

Due to the German disqualification, Finland's Suvi Minkkinen and Tero Seppala moved into the top spot, after the squad originally finished second, with a time of 34 minutes and 59.8 seconds.

"We did very good work today, but I wasn't first on finish line, so a little sad this is how it happened," Seppala said after the race.

French biathletes Jeanne Richard and Emilien Claude secured silver, after they originally earned bronze, 11.3 seconds behind the Finnish winners.

Norway's Juni Arnekleiv and Martin Nevland snagged the final spot on the podium, after the Norwegians originally missed it, after they finished 5.4 seconds behind the French team.

In the mixed relay, there was far less drama, and it was all about the Italian team as they prepare for a Winter Olympics on home snow in just a couple of weeks.

Italy's Dorothea Wierer, Lisa Vittozzi, Lukas Hofer and Tommaso Giacomel toasted the competition in the mixed relay and took home gold in 1 hour, 3 minutes and 11.7 seconds. Saturday's win marked the third World Cup victory in the mixed relay for the Italian team.

"It was I think a really good day, I think my teammates have done a good job today, and I had a good position to attack in my leg, and I think I did well," Giacomel said after the win. "A really good day to be Italian today." 

Oceane Michelon, Justine Braisaz-Bouchet, Oscar Lombardot and Quentin Fillon Maillet of France earned silver after they crossed the finish line 24.7 seconds behind the Italian winners. 

Czechia's Jessica Islova, Tereza Vobornikova, Vitezslav Hornig and Michal Krcmar celebrated a third-place finish in front of an ecstatic home crowd, 7.8 seconds behind the French foursome.

Deedra Irwin, Margie Freed, Campbell Wright and Maxime Germain of Team USA placed fourth in the mixed relay, just barely missing out on the podium, after a sprint finish against Czechia. It was the team's best World Cup finish in the mixed relay since 2015. 

On Sunday, biathlon World Cup competition wraps up in Nove Mesto na Morave with the men's 15km and the women's 12.5km mass start events.