Biathlon Events Showcase Difficult Mix of Skills

Biathlon combines the contradictory challenges of skiing fast and calming the heartbeat for accurate rifle shooting. The best place to watch races at the Soldier Hollow venue is inside the stadium, where both the shooting targets and the cross-country course can be observed.

The best seats in the stadium afford an unimpeded look at the row of four-centimeter wide targets. The Olympic biathlon begins today with the women’s 15-kilometer individual race and the men’s 20k individual race. The start and finish areas are in front of the grandstand and so is the shooting range. The racers slip the .22-caliber rifles off their backs as they approach the range and set up in either the prone or standing positions. As they lift the rifles, they are taking aim at a target 50 meters away.

Some competitors shoot at the five targets from right to left and some choose to shoot left to right. They shoot according to their preference. However, they must shoot at the targets in order. If a target is missed, the shooter must go on to the next target.

Spectators in the grandstand will be able to see all of the shooting, the starts, which are staggered at 30-second intervals, and the finish line. Both because of the staggered start and penalties levied for missed targets, the gold, silver and bronze medalists will not be readily apparent. In longer biathlon races such as these, a one-minute time penalty is assessed for each miss. In shorter biathlon races, the athlete must complete a 150-meter penalty loop for each miss.

In some biathlon races, fans routinely either ski along the course to different vantage points, or walk to a choice location, but that will not be allowed during the Olympics. There is a secondary standing spectator area in the so-called “lower meadow” of Soldier Hollow that permits viewing of some portions of the skiing. However, all views of the shooting range are blocked by the cross-country stadium, which shares the venue.

Biathlon’s roots date to 1776, when the first competition was organized along the Norway-Sweden border. The first military patrol race using the skiing and shooting skills was held in Germany in 1902 and a military ski patrol exhibition was part of the first Winter Games in Chamonix in 1924.

Biathlon involving civilian athletes was accepted into the Games for men in 1960 in Squaw Valley, Calif. The first women’s Olympic events were held in 1992.

Lew Freedman