2016–17 Biathlon World Cup – Mass start Women

The 2016–17 Biathlon World Cup – Mass start Women started on Sunday 18 December 2016 in Nové Město and finished on Sunday 19 March 2017 in Oslo Holmenkollen. The defending titlist was Gabriela Koukalová of the Czech Republic.

The small crystal globe winner for the category was Gabriela Koukalová of the Czech Republic.

Competition format
In the mass start, all biathletes start at the same time and the first across the finish line wins. In this 12.5 km competition, the distance is skied over five laps; there are four bouts of shooting (two prone and two standing, in that order) with the first shooting bout being at the lane corresponding to the competitor's bib number (bib #10 shoots at lane #10 regardless of position in race), with the rest of the shooting bouts being on a first-come, first-served basis (if a competitor arrives at the lane in fifth place, they shoot at lane 5). As in the sprint and pursuit, competitors must ski one 150 m penalty loop for each miss. Here again, to avoid unwanted congestion, World Cup Mass starts are held with only the 30 top ranking athletes on the start line (half that of the pursuit) as here all contestants start simultaneously.