Shooting and Skiing in the City - 01.08.2006

In August I took part in the 2nd Biathlon World Elite competition in Puttlingen, Germany. August, naturally, is summer, so not a usual time for a biathlon competition, but rollerski competitions seem to be a growing in popularity, and I can see why. The competition took place right in the city center, with the biathlon range set up right next to the local shopping mall. With 13,000 – 14,000 specators surrounding the course the atmosphere was like a World Cup.

Along with the summer racing trend, there is also a new race format being used. It includes an extra shooting stage where the athletes start the race as in a mass start, but with a shooting stage, which seperates the field. Thereafter, we skied five loops a little over 1 kilometer with four more shooting stages in between (prone, prone, prone, standing, standing). This format is very spectator friendly with a lot of shooting action, so I expect it to be used more, perhaps even in the winter.
It was most interesting for me to get a glimpse of the best biathletes in the world during the off season. Just like in the winter, everyone looked fit and fast, but there were minor weaknesses, such as in some of the shooting, where it was almost a comfort to see even the best athletes have a lot of work to do to win World Cups.


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