Vassallo takes over from Cobb after the American stepped down following his election as vice-president of sport during the IBU’s Congress in Chisinau in Moldova last month.

Cobb, who served as chief of competition for the biathlon events at the 2002 Winter Olympic Games in Salt Lake City, saw off competition from Baiba Broka of Latvia and Poland’s Dagmara Gerasimuk to secure the role.

The former biathlete was appointed as chair of the IBU Technical Committee in 2010 and is the current chief executive of USA Biathlon.

Johnny Rognstad of Norway was chosen as the 10^th member of the Technical Committee and he will serve in the role until 2018.

The appointments were made during the latest Technical Committee meetings, held in Anif near Salzburg.

A number of items were on the agenda, including updates on inspections of sites and venues which are due to host IBU World Cup, Cup and Junior Cup events during the upcoming season.

The next gathering of the Technical Committee is due to take place in Minsk early next year, with dates yet to be confirmed by the IBU.

Following the meeting, an Annual Seminar was staged, attended by 56 delegates to discuss technical issues related to the sport.

Reports from the previous two seasons, as well as plans for the 2016 to 2017 campaign, were discussed.

Franz Berger, the head of the Organising Committee for the 2017 IBU World Championships in Hochfilzen in Austria, then gave a presentation concerning preparations for the event.

Berger gave attendees an update on the progress of construction of the venue being used for the Championships, the IBU’s flagship biennial competition, as well as an overview of the planned races due to be held as part of the event.