What is Biathlon?
Biathlon is a sport combining cross country skiing and rifle marksmanship. This combination of physical work and mental concentration creates very difficult, but exciting competitions. The general concept is a biathlete skis freestyle a certain distance, then shoots at five targets. For each missed target the biathlete is penalized. Then the athlete returns to the ski course, followed by another shooting stage. There are either two or four shooting stages depending on the competition, and each competion includes prone shooting (laying down) and standing shooting (standing up). After the final shooting stage the biathlete races to the finish line. The competitor with the fastest time, including the extra time added from the shooting penalties, wins.

Equipment
Biathletes need very specialized equipment to compete. Perhaps most distinct is the rifle which has a harness so the biathlete can carry it on his back while he skis. The rifle is .22 caliber, bolt-action (specialized for biathlon competition), with non-optical sites. The rifle stocks must weigh a minium of 3.5 kilograms without the clips. In order to shoot accurate, biathletes often have their rifle stocks custom made so they fit ideally. Each rifle has a four clips which carry the five bullets the biathlete will use to shoot at the targets. In the prone position, the biathlete uses a sling which attaches to a cuff on the biathlete’s arm so there is less barrel movement. The targets the biathletes shoot at have a fairly basic concept. The target is white with five black circles. If the bullet hits, the black target falls and a white disc indicates the target was hit. Standing targets are 115 mm, and prone targets are 45 mm. For the skiing portion, biathletes only use the freestyle (skating) technique. This includes ski poles, boots and skis. Naturally, biathletes also where a ski suit, as well as hats and gloves to protect from the cold since it is a winter sport.

Individual competition
This race is the most traditional format. It is a 20 kilometer competion for the men and 15 kilometers for the women. In this race there are four shooting stages which rotate between prone and standing. In a competition for the men for example, a biathlete will ski four kilometers, shoot five prone shots, ski four kilometers, shoot five standing shots, ski four kilometers, shoot five prone shots, ski four kilometers, shoot five standing shots, ski four kilometers, finish. At the finish the total amount of penalties are added up and a one minute penalty is added to the finish time for each missed target. This makes shooting very important, because it is very difficult to make up one minute skiing on a competitor.

Sprint Competition
If there could be just one competition to determine the best biathlete, it would be the sprint competition. The race covers 10 kilometers for men and 7.5 kilometers for the women. There is one prone stage and one standing stage. For each target an athlete misses, immediately after the shooting stage the athlete has to ski a 150 meter loop before going back onto the ski course. Whoever has the fastest time at the finish wins the race. This race often favors the faster skiers, since the penalty loop only takes between 20 to 30 seconds.

Pursuit Competition
The Pursuit Competition is a second chance for everybody. It is based upon the results from the sprint competition, so the biathlete who was first place in the sprint starts first in the pursuit. Then the biathlete who was second in the sprint race starts at the same amount of time he or she finished behind the winner in the sprint. For example, if the second place starter was five seconds behind the winner in the sprint, he or she starts the pursuit five seconds behind the first starter. The field is limited to sixty starters. There are four shooting stages (prone, prone, standing, standing), and the competition covers 12.5 kilometers for the men and 10 kilometers for the women. Since the ski distance is just a little bit longer than the sprint and there are two more shooting stages, the good shooters tend to move up the result list in this competition. Like the sprint, for every missed target a 150 meter penalty loop must be done. The first biathlete to cross the finish line is the winner.

Mass Start Competition
The Mass start is a simple head to head competition. Since there are 30 targets on a World Cup biathlon range, there is only room for 30 biathletes to compete. This makes the Mass Start an exclusive elite competition which always proves exciting. The race covers 15 kilometers for the men and 12.5 kilometers for the women. There are four shooting stages, just like the pursuit, (prone, prone, standing, standing) and for every missed target the biathlete must ski a 150 meter penalty loop. In this race, the first one across the line wins, and deservedly so. It is a very demanding race, which makes it spectator friendly as well.

Relay Competition
The Relay Competition includes 4 biathletes, each of whom must complete a 7.5 kilometer course for the men and 6 kilometers for the women, which includes a prone and a standing stage. In this race if a biathlete misses a target, he or she is allowed to hand load up to three extra rounds in order to hit the remaining missed targets. If the biathlete still has a missed target(s) after using the extra rounds, he or she must ski a 150 meter penalty loop for each missed target. The race begins as a mass start, and each racer completes their race and then tags off to the next person. The winner is the team whose fourth racer crosses the finish line first. The short ski loops and extra shooting rounds makes the relay a very intense race where the athletes push their shooting and skiing speed to the limit. It is very exciting, and often very hard to predict the winner until the end of the race.