The U.S. Biathlon board voted Thursday, July 30, to delay a proposed merger with Park City-based U.S. Ski & Snowboard, demanding written guarantees of governance autonomy before any deal moves forward.

The decision, reported by KPCW, came after months of opposition from athletes and longtime biathletes who feared the small sport would be absorbed into the larger organization and lose funding. A working group will now draft a "definitive agreement" by late August that spells out how biathlon retains its independence.

The board said it still supports the principles of the rare consolidation between two Olympic sport organizations. But athlete representative Jake Brown said the board recognized it needed to slow down.

"We also need to do it right and do it with the membership, the community, athlete support," Brown said after the vote.

As we reported July 29, the merger had been fast-tracked after the U.S. again failed to win a biathlon medal at the Winter Olympics. U.S. Biathlon CEO Jack Gierhart told members the U.S. Olympic and Paralympic Committee was cutting 22% of its funding and sponsors were pulling back. Board chair Bob Hall said the alliance would mean a $3 million improvement to biathlon's budget over four years.

The size gap is stark. U.S. Ski & Snowboard oversees 11 sports and 250 elite athletes, carries a $70 million budget and counts 40,000 members. U.S. Biathlon operates on $4 million with 1,407 members and has never won an Olympic medal.

Still, opponents pointed to history. USSS cut funding for U.S. Ski Jumping in 2010 and Nordic Combined in 2014. Longtime biathletes Jon Schafer of Colorado and Marc Sheppard of Montana produced a community analysis concluding that working with USSS should be a "last resort."

Art Stegen, author of "Unique and Unknown: The Story of Biathlon in the United States," said he doesn't want to see biathlon disappear into another organization. Stegen also filed an ethics complaint against Hall alleging he improperly hosted merger meetings without notifying members. That complaint was dismissed during a closed-door session before the merger vote.

Cross-country ski Olympian Kikkan Randall, who sits on the USSS board, made the case for the deal's upside, noting biathlon's massive popularity in Europe and the marketing potential that could unlock.

Board member Dexter Paine, who holds seats on both the USSS and U.S. Biathlon boards, recused himself before the vote. A separate ethics complaint had been filed against him over the dual membership.

USSS CEO Sophie Goldschmidt told the Associated Press on July 29 that the Park City organization could help take biathlon to the next level. She previously attempted to take over USA Surfing but dropped that bid after member opposition and is now in talks with USA Skateboarding.

A potential legal hurdle also looms: the 1978 Ted Stevens Olympic and Amateur Sports Act bars a national governing body from being overseen by multiple international federations. USSS falls under the International Ski and Snowboard Federation, while U.S. Biathlon answers to the International Biathlon Union.

The working group's draft agreement is due in late August.