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The BWC season lasts from December to March, with contests in a different venue every week excluding some holidays and a couple of weeks before the season's major championship (World Championship or Winter Olympics). All in all, the season comprises nine to ten contest weeks, with events taking place from Wednesday/Thursday through Sunday. Relay competitions are held four to six times per season. Also counting as World Cup events are World Championships and Winter Olympics events.
The tables given below provide an overview of the highest-ranking biathletes and nations of each WC season. For each event, a first place gives 50 points, a 2nd place 46 pts, a 3rd place 43 pts, a 4th place 40 pts, a fifth place 37 pts, a 6th place 34 pts, then further decreasing by two pts down to the 15th place (16 pts), then linearly decreasing by one point down to the 30th place. Equal placings (ties) give an equal number of points. The sum of all WC points of the season, less the points from an IBU-predetermined number of events (e.g. 3), gives the biathlete's total WC score.
(From 1985 to 2000, WC points were awarded so that the first four places gave 30, 26, 24, and 22 points, respectively, and then the 5th to 25th place gave 21, 20, ..., down to 1 point. Before this, points were simply awarded linearly from 25 to 1.)
See the List of IOC country codes for expansions of country abbreviations.
| Season | Winner | 2nd | 3rd |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1977/78 | Frank Ullrich (GDR) | Klaus Siebert (GDR) | Eberhard Rösch (GDR) |
| 1978/79 | Klaus Siebert (GDR) | Frank Ullrich (GDR) | Vladimir Barnashov (URS) |
| 1979/80 | Frank Ullrich (GDR) | Klaus Siebert (GDR) | Eberhard Rösch (GDR) |
| 1980/81 | Frank Ullrich (GDR) | Kjell Søbak (NOR) | Anatoliy Alyabyev (URS) |
| 1981/82 | Frank Ullrich (GDR) | Matthias Jacob (GDR) | Kjell Søbak (NOR) |
| 1982/83 | Peter Angerer (FRG) | Eirik Kvalfoss (NOR) | Frank Ullrich (GDR) |
| 1983/84 | Frank-Peter Rötsch (GDR) | Peter Angerer (FRG) | Eirik Kvalfoss (NOR) |
| 1984/85 | Frank-Peter Rötsch (GDR) | Yuri Kashkarov (URS) | Eirik Kvalfoss (NOR) |
| 1985/86 | André Sehmisch (GDR) | Peter Angerer (FRG) | Mathias Jacob (GDR) |
| 1986/87 | Frank-Peter Rötsch (GDR) | Fritz Fischer (FRG) | Jan Matous (CZE) |
| 1987/88 | Fritz Fischer (FRG) | Eirik Kvalfoss (NOR) | Johann Passler (ITA) |
| 1988/89 | Eirik Kvalfoss (NOR) | Alexander Popov (URS) | Sergei Tchepikov (URS) |
| 1989/90 | Sergei Tchepikov (URS) | Eirik Kvalfoss (NOR) | Valeriy Medvedtsev (URS) |
| 1990/91 | Sergei Tchepikov (URS) | Mark Kirchner (GER) | Andreas Zingerle (ITA) |
| 1991/92 | Jon Åge Tyldum (NOR) | Mikael Löfgren (SWE) | Sylfest Glimsdal (NOR) |
| 1992/93 | Mikael Löfgren (SWE) | Mark Kirchner (GER) | Pieralberto Carrara (ITA) |
| 1993/94 | Patrice Bailly-Salins (FRA) | Sven Fischer (GER) | Frank Luck (GER) |
| 1994/95 | Jon Åge Tyldum (NOR) | Patric Favre (ITA) | Wilfried Pallhuber (ITA) |
| 1995/96 | Vladimir Dratchev (RUS)¹ | Viktor Maigourov (RUS) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
| 1996/97 | Sven Fischer (GER) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Viktor Maigourov (RUS) |
| 1997/98 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Ricco Groß (GER) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
| 1998/99 | Sven Fischer (GER) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Frank Luck (GER) |
| 1999/00 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Sven Fischer (GER) |
| 2000/01 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Frode Andresen (NOR) |
| 2001/02 | Frank Luck (GER) | Pavel Rostovtsev (RUS) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| 2002/03 | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Vladimir Dratchev (BLR)¹ | Ricco Groß (GER) |
| 2003/04 | Raphaël Poirée (FRA) | Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) | Ricco Groß (GER) |
( ¹ citizenship changed from Russia to Belarus in 2002)