Biathlon is a sporting discipline that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It is practiced over distances ranging from 7.5 km to 20 km for men, and from 6 km to 15 km for women. Biathlon competitions are very popular, particularly in Europe. But what are the rules behind this sport?
There are many variations of this sport, but the general rule is as follows: athletes must ski a certain distance, then stop and shoot at a target with a compressed air rifle.
Biathlon is a winter sports event that consists of a cross-country skiing circuit and rifle shooting. Biathletes must perform a series of rifle shots at each turn of the circuit, and if they miss a shot, they must incur a race penalty. There are five biathlon event formats: sprint, pursuit, relay, individual, and mass start.
Summer biathlon, unlike winter biathlon, consists of two disciplines: running and archery. Both sports are extremely physically demanding and require great precision from the athletes/biathletes.
In biathlon, there are three types of races: sprint, pursuit, and relay. Points are awarded based on each competitor's finishing place. The first competitor to cross the finish line receives 60 points, the second 59 points, and so on down to the 60th who receives only 1 point.
A spare round is a bullet that biathletes can pick up on the cross-country course if they've missed a shooting target with their rifle. Athletes can pick up a spare round only once per missed shot, and must carry it with them until they reach the next shooting range. Both standing and prone shooting are done at a distance of 50 meters to hit the target.
Amongst men and women, Ole Einar Bjørndalen and Magdalena Neuner are probably the most famous biathlon athletes, known world-wide. Another biathlete known internationally is Frenchman, Martin Fourcade. He's a five-time Olympic champion, as well as a seven-time winner of the overall World Cup ranking, and also a thirteen-time world champion. What an accomplishment!