Competition is scheduled to last for four days in the Belarusian capital, starting with the men’s 20 kilometres and women’s 15km individual races tomorrow.

A special ceremony took place in the city today to welcome the athletes and fans, which was attended by Igor Petrishenko, the Deputy Prime Minister of Belarus.

A legends race also went ahead dedicated to Belarus' four-time Olympic champion Darya Domracheva, who partnered up with her husband, Norway’s Ole Einar Bjørndalen.

It was won by the Belarusian team of Nadezha Skardino and Sergey Novikov.

"No doubt, it feels very nice to win again, especially in front of a home crowd," Novikov said.

"I think it is really great that we have the IBU Open European Championships in Belarus.

Novikov added: "It not only shows how important biathlon is for our country, but is also a big step for the next events, such as the IBU World Cup in the 2021-2022 season."

When the main competition begins tomorrow, among the men Tarjei Bø is the only active athlete, other than France’s Martin Fourcade, who has won the overall IBU World Cup title.

The two-time world champion has finished in the top six four times this season and will be looking to make the podium in Minsk’s pursuit race, due to go ahead on Sunday (February 24).

Bø, however, admitted he still needs more competitions before the World Championships next month and that the Open European Championships will be a strong test of his form.

Another looking to perform well is Martin Bourgeois Republique from France, winner of the individual gold medal at the recent IBU Junior World Championships in Osrblie in Slovakia.

On the women’s side, Sweden’s Olympic gold and silver medallist Hanna Öberg is among the entrants, as is Germany’s Nadine Horchler and Ukraine’s Yuliia Zhuravok, the 2015 European junior individual champion.