Solider Hollow in Salt Lake City will play host to four days of IBU World Cup action this week ©IBU

Athletes on the International Biathlon Union (IBU) World Cup circuit are set to compete at the venue which hosted the sport at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games when Salt Lake City hosts the latest event of the season this week.

Four days of competition are scheduled at the Solider Hollow site, beginning with the women's 7.5 kilometres sprint tomorrow.

The event is due to conclude on Sunday (February 17) with the single mixed relay and mixed relay races.

It will mark the first major IBU competition to be held at the Salt Lake City 2002 site.

Salt Lake City was selected as the United States Olympic Committee's preferred candidate should it pursue a bid for the 2030 Winter Olympic and Paralympic Games.

Organisers are also expecting milder weather after freezing temperatures forced the IBU to cancel the sprint races in Canmore in Canada.

The event will be the first major IBU competition held at the venue since the 2002 Winter Olympic Games ©IBU
The event will be the first major IBU competition held at the venue since the 2002 Winter Olympic Games ©IBU

The IBU has claimed the event will be a "new experience for the athletes" as it will present the sport "in a pristine natural setting at a venue that resonates history and past Olympic glory".

Johannes Thingnes Bø of Norway arrives in the American city looking for his 13th victory of the season.

The reigning 20km individual Olympic champion has been in stunning form so far this campaign and will seek to extend his lead at the top of the overall standings.

Bø, who has 896 points, currently has a 300-point lead over nearest challenger Alexander Loginov on Russia.

It is a much closer affair in the race for the women's crystal globe as Italian Dorothea Wierer leads the way on 651 points, just five in front of compatriot Lisa Vittozzi.