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Biathlon
The term "Biathlon" refers specifically to the
winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle
shooting. History
The sport has its origins in an exercise for
Norwegian soldiers. The first known competition took place in
1767 when border patrol companies competed against each other.
Gradually the sport became more common throughout Scandinavia as
an alternative training for the military.
Called military patrol, the combination of
skiing and shooting was demonstrated at the Olympic Winter Games
in 1924, 1928, 1936 and 1948, but did not gain Olympic
recognition then, as the small number of competing countries
disagreed on the rules (see also Governing body, below).
The first World Championship in the sport was held in 1958 in
Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the
Olympic Games
Rule overview
For complete rules, see the IBU Rule book.
However, the concise rules given below should be enough for a
spectator to understand what is going on at a biathlon stadium
whether actually being there or at home watching a televised
biathlon event. Skiing
All skiing techniques are permitted in biathlon,
but no other equipment than skis and ski poles may be used.
Minimal length of the skis is the height of the skier less 4 cm.
Shooting
The biathlete carries the 3.5 kg rifle including
ammunition in magazines on her/his back during the race. The
rifles use .22 Long Rifle ammunition and are not automatic or
semi-automatic; loading must be done manually by the biathlete.
The target range shooting distance is 50 m. Prone shooting
target diameter is 45 mm, standing is 115 mm. The five targets
are self-indicating, in that they flip from black to white when
hit, giving the biathlete instant visual feedback for each shot
fired.
Competition format
Sprint
In the sprint, held over 10 km (7.5 km for
women), the biathlete shoots twice (10 shots); once prone, once
standing. For each miss, a penalty loop of 150 m has to be skied
before the race can be continued. The biathletes start in
intervals (normally of 30 seconds, sometimes shortened to 20
seconds in between starters). Pursuit
In a Pursuit, the biathletes start with the time
difference between them from a previous race, often a Sprint.
The contestant crossing the finish line first becomes the
winner. The distance is 12.5 km (10 km for women), there are
four shooting bouts (two prone, two standing), and each miss
means a penalty loop of 150 m. In World Cup pursuits, the 60 top
ranking biathletes after the preceding race are allowed to
participate. Mass start
In the mass start, all biathletes start at the
same time; first across the finish line wins. In this 15 km (or
12.5 km for women) competition, there are four bouts of
shooting; two standing, two prone. As in Sprint races,
competitors must ski one 150m penalty loop for each miss.
To prevent awkward and/or dangerous crowding in the skiing
track, and undercapacity at the shooting range, World Cup mass
starts are held with only the 30 top ranking athletes on the
start line. Individual
The 20 km individual race (15 km for women) is
the oldest biathlon event. The biathlete shoots four times, in
the order of prone, standing, prone, standing, totalling 20
targets. For each missed target a fixed penalty time, usually
one minute, is added to the skiing time of the biathlete. As in
the sprint competition, the biathletes start in intervals.
Relay
Teams consist of four biathletes, who each ski
7.5 km (both men and women), with two shooting rounds (one
prone, one standing). For every round of five targets there are
eight bullets available, though the last three can only be
loaded one at a time from trays at the shooting range. If after
eight bullets there are still misses, one 150 m penalty loop
must be taken for each miss.
The first-leg participants start all at the same
time, and as in cross-country skiing relays, every athlete of a
team must touch the team's next-leg participant to perform a
valid exchange. Team
A team consists of four biathletes, and all
start at the same time. Two athletes must shoot in the prone
shooting round, the other two in the standing round. In case of
a miss, the two non-shooting biathletes must ski a penalty loop
of 150 m.
The skiers must enter the shooting area
together, and must also finish within 15 seconds of each other,
otherwise a time penalty of 1 minute is added to the total time.
This race format is now obsolete at the World cup level (2004).
2006
Winter Olympic Games
Alpine skiing
10 km Sprint Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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12.5 km Pursuit Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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20 km Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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4 x 7.5 km Men
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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7.5 km Sprint Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
|
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| Silver |
|
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| Bronze |
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10 km Pursuit Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
|
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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15 km Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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4 x 7.5 km Women
| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
|
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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| Medal |
Athlete |
Time |
| Gold |
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| Silver |
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| Bronze |
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2002
Winter Olympic Games
Biathlon
10 km Sprint Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
| Gold |
Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| Silver |
Sven Fischer (GER) |
| Bronze |
Wolfgang Perner (AUT) |
Without any misses with the shooting, Bjørndalen wins his
second gold of the Games.
12.5 km Pursuit Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
| Gold |
Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| Silver |
Raphaël Poirée (FRA) |
| Bronze |
Ricco Groß (GER) |
Bjørndalen wins his third gold of the Games to equal
Aleksandr Tikhonov as the most successful biathlete at
the Olympics.
20 km Men:
| Medal |
Athlete |
| Gold |
Ole Einar Bjørndalen (NOR) |
| Silver |
Frank Luck (GER) |
| Bronze |
Viktor Maigurov (RUS) |
After finishing 6th in the 30 km cross country,
Bjørndalen wins the gold in the biathlon, where he is by far
the best skier.
4 x 7.5 km Men
| Medal |
Team |
| Gold |
Norway (Halvard Hanevold, Frode Andresen, Egil Gjelland,
Ole Einar Bjørndalen) |
| Silver |
Germany (Ricco Groß, Peter Sendel, Sven Fischer, Frank
Luck) |
| Bronze |
France (Gilles Marguet, Vincent Defrasne, Julien Robert,
Raphaël Poirée) |
7.5 km Sprint Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
| Gold |
Kati Wilhelm (GER) |
| Silver |
Uschi Disl (GER) |
| Bronze |
Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) |
Another surprise from Germany, which takes first and
second. Forsberg seals a second medal with a late sprint
towards the finish.
10 km Pursuit Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
| Gold |
Olga Pyleva (RUS) |
| Silver |
Kati Wilhelm (GER) |
| Bronze |
Irina Nikulchina (BUL) |
After leaders Poirée and Forsberg fail at the last
shooting, Pyleva grabs the opportunity to take her first
international victory.
15 km Women:
| Medal |
Athlete |
| Gold |
Andrea Henkel (GER) |
| Silver |
Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée (NOR) |
| Bronze |
Magdalena Forsberg (SWE) |
Henkel surprises, while hot favorite Forsberg misses two
shots in the last round but wins her first medal.
4 x 7.5 km Women
| Medal |
Team |
| Gold |
Germany (Katrin Apel, Uschi Disl, Andrea Henkel, Kati
Wilhelm) |
| Silver |
Norway (Ann-Elen Skjelbreid, Linda Tjørhom, Gunn Margit
Andreassen, Liv Grete Skjelbreid Poirée) |
| Bronze |
Russia (Olga Pyleva, Galina Kukleva, Svetlana
Ishmouratova, Albina Akhatova) |
Major favorites Germany come from behind after the first
leg to take the fourth straight gold medal since 1992.
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Credits
: Parts of this article are licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License.
It uses material from the
Wikipedia article
"Biathlon".
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