Biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It developed from the sport of military patrol, which began in 19th century Scandinavia and originated in ski warfare. In the Nordic languages, the sport is called "ski-shooting". The sport of biathlon involves many different types of races, with the commonality being contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds called bouts. The shooting rounds do not have a time limit, but depending on the competition, missed shots result in extra distance or time being added to the contestant's total.
History
According to Encyclopædia Britannica, biathlon "is rooted in the skiing traditions of Scandinavia, where early inhabitants revered the Norse god Ullr as both the ski god and the hunting god." In modern times, the activity that developed into this sport was an exercise for Norwegians as alternative training for the military. Norwegian skiing regiments organized military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided into four classes: shooting at mark while skiing at top speed, downhill race among trees, downhill race on big hills without falling, and a long race on flat ground while carrying a rifle and military pack. In modern terminology, these military contests included downhill, slalom, biathlon, and cross-country skiing.Bergsland, Einar (1946): På ski. Oslo: Aschehoug. One of the world's first known ski clubs, (the Trysil Rifle and Ski Club), was formed in Norway in 1861 to promote national defense at the local level. 20th century variants include (the military contest), a 17 km cross-country race with shooting, and the military cross-country race at 30 km including marksmanship.
The modern biathlon is a civilian variant of the old military combined exercise.Bø, Olav: Skiing throughout history, translated by W. Edson Richmond. Oslo: Samlaget, 1993. In Norway, the biathlon was, until 1984, a branch of , an organization set up by the government to promote civilian marksmanship in support of national defence. In Norwegian, the biathlon is called (literally ski shooting).Kunnskapsforlagets idrettsleksikon (Encyclopedia of Sports), Oslo: Kunnskapsforlaget, 1990 In Norway, there are still separate contests in , a cross-country race at 12 km with large-caliber rifle shooting at various targets with unknown range.
Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was contested at the Winter Olympic Games in 1924 and then demonstrated in 1928, 1936, and 1948, during which time Norway and Finland were strong competitors. In 1948, the sport was reorganized under the Union Internationale de Pentathlon Moderne et Biathlon and became re-accepted as an Olympic sport in 1955, with widespread popularity within the Soviet and Swedish winter sport circuits.
The first Biathlon World Championship was held in 1958 in Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first allowed in the Olympic biathlon. The pursuit format was added for the 2002 Salt Lake City Winter Olympics, and the IBU added mixed relay as a format for the 2006 Olympics.
The competitions from 1958 to 1965 made use of high-power centrefire cartridges, such as the .30-06 Springfield and the 7.62×51mm NATO, before the .22 long rifle rimfire cartridge was standardized in 1978. The ammunition was carried in several pouches on a belt worn around the competitor's waist. The sole event was the men's 20 km individual, encompassing four separate ranges and firing distances of 100 m, 150 m, 200 m, and 250 m. The target distance was reduced to 150 m with the addition of the relay in 1966. The shooting range was further reduced to 50 m in 1978 with the mechanical self-indicating targets making their debut at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid. For the 2018–2019 season, fully electronic targets were approved as an alternative to paper targets used in zeroing or mechanical steel targets for IBU events.New Season, New Rules: International Biathlon Union – IBU
Governing body In 1948, the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM) was founded to standardize the rules for the modern pentathlon and from 1953 also biathlon. In July 1993, the biathlon branch of the UIPMB created the International Biathlon Union (IBU), which officially separated from the UIPMB in 1998.
Presidents of the UIPMB/IBU: 1947–1949: Tom Wiborn (Sweden) 1949–1960: Gustaf Dyrssen (Sweden) 1960–1988: Sven Thofelt (Sweden) 1988–1992: Igor Novikov (USSR/Russia) 1992–2018: Anders Besseberg (Norway) Since 2018: (Sweden)
Championships
The following articles list major international biathlon events and medalists. Unlike the Olympics and World Championships (BWCH), the World Cup (BWC) is an entire winter season of (mostly) weekly races, where the medalists are those with the highest sums of World Cup points at the end of the season. Biathlon at the Winter Olympics Biathlon World Championships Biathlon World Cup Biathlon European Championships IBU Cup Biathlon Junior World Championships Biathlon at the Winter Universiade
Rules and equipment
The rules of the biathlon are given in the International Biathlon Union Competition Rules and the Annexes to the Event and Competition Rules which are updated by the IBU yearly.
Basic concepts A biathlon competition consists of a race in which contestants ski a series of loops on a cross-country trail system and includes either two or four shooting rounds called bouts, half in the prone position, the other half in the standing position. Depending on the shooting performance, extra distance or time is added to the contestant's total skiing distance/time. Depending on the event the contestant with the shortest total time or first to cross the finish line wins.
For each shooting bout, the biathlete must hit the five targets or receive a penalty for each missed target, which varies according to the competition rules as follows:
Skiing around a or penalty loop. Adding a 1 minute or 45 second penalty to the skier's total time. Use of an extra cartridge (held on a spare round holder on an athlete's rifle) to hit the target; only three such "spare rounds" are available for each shooting stage (bout), and a penalty loop must be done for each target remaining. These rounds are only available in the relay race.
In order to keep track of the contestants' progress and relative standing throughout a race, split times (intermediate times) are taken at several points along the skiing track and upon finishing each shooting bout. The large display screens commonly set up at biathlon arenas, as well as the information graphics shown as part of the TV picture, will typically list the split time of the fastest contestant at each intermediate point and the times and time differences to the closest runners-up.
Skiing details At Olympic competitions, all cross-country skiing techniques are permitted in the biathlon, allowing the use of skate skiing, which is overwhelmingly the choice of competitors. The minimum ski length is the height of the skier minus 4 cm. The rifle has to be carried by the skier during the race by use of a harness and must be taken off during the shooting stages.
Shooting details
Competitors carry a rifle chambered in the 5.6 mm 22 long rifle caliber (.22 LR), which must weigh at least , excluding spare ammunition, and loaded or empty magazines. The guns use .22 LR ammunition which must have a bullet with a weight of 2.55–2.75 grams (39.35–42.43 grains) made of lead or a similar uniform soft material and use a bolt action or Anschütz 1827F Fortner (or other straight-pull bolt) action. Each rifle holds 4 magazines using a magazine cassette (holds all 4) or a magazine holder (holds one) mounted to the rifle or available internally, with 5 rounds each. Additional rounds can be kept on the stock of the rifle for a relay race using what is called a spare round holder. Spare rounds can also be stored on the floor plate of the magazine. Spare round holders come in many configurations holding 2, 3, or 6 rounds of ammunition and are mounted in various places in the rifle stock depending on biathlete preferences. Additionally spare round compartments are sometimes built into sight risers, cheek pieces or the standing grip of the rifle's stock.
The targets sit at a distance of . There are five concentric, circular, shooting targets to be hit in each shooting round or bout. When shooting in the prone position, the target diameter is ; when shooting in the standing position, the target diameter is . This translates to angular target sizes of 0.9 and 2.3 mrad respectively. A large assembly of 5 targets sits in each lane. When changing from prone targets to standing, the hit size or scoring zone of the target changes, but the size of the bull at which the biathlete aims remains unaltered. This means that the perceived target size remains the same while the "hit-zone" the biathlete's bullet must strike to achieve a hit decreases in the prone position when compared to the standing. The setting of these targets is either done with a pull rope (as is done on mechanical targets) or by use of a wireless remote (as is done on electronic targets). On biathlon ranges, a white paddle covers a hit target by using either the momentum of the bullet to flip a paddle or an acoustic system to determine the shot location. This white indication method gives the biathlete, as well as the spectators, instant visual feedback for each shot fired.
Ear protection is not required or generally used during biathlon shooting as the ammunition used is usually subsonic. An eyecup (blinder) is an optional feature of biathlon rifles.
Competition format
Individual The individual race [ for women] is the oldest biathlon event; the distance is skied over five laps. The biathlete performs four bouts or shooting stages at any shooting lane (lanes 1–15 are in prone, while lanes 16–30 are for standing),Even in English-speaking countries such as Canada and the United States, each country may use different terms for the same thing in biathlon. For example, Stage (USA) vs. Bout (Canada), Shooting Point (USA) vs. Shooting Lane (Canada) in the order of prone, standing, prone, standing, totaling 20 targets. For each missed target, a fixed penalty time, usually 1 minute, is added to the skiing time of the biathlete. Competitors' starts are staggered, normally by 30 seconds.
A variation of the standard individual race, called short individual, was introduced during the 2018–19 Biathlon IBU Cup. The races are 15 km for men and 12.5 km for women (the same distances as in the mass start), and for each missed target, 45 seconds will be added to the skiing time.
Sprint The sprint is for men and for women; the distance is skied over three laps. The biathlete performs two bouts or shooting stages at a lane of their choosing, once in the prone position (usually lanes 1–15) and once in the standing position (lanes 16–30), for a total of 10 shots. Most races designate these lanes for their positions in what is called a "split range". The division of these lanes is marked with a pictorial sign showing an arrow and a representation of the designated position. For each missed shot, a penalty loop of 150 m must be skied before continuing the race. As in the individual competition, the biathletes start in a set of equal intervals as set by the race director.
Super Sprint