This is biathlon

The shooting range at the World Cup Biathlon 2018

This article takes you through the competitions to be held in Holmenkollen 16 - 19 March and gives you a short introduction to some interesting facts about biathlon.

Sprint
The athletes go through two shootings, and for every miss, a 150 meter penalty loop awaits. The athletes start individually, with 30 seconds between them.

Pursuit
The top 60 men and top 60 women from the sprints get to compete in the pursuits. The distance is 10 km for women, and 12.5 km for men. There are four shooting bouts (two prone, two standing, in that order). Each miss equals a penalty loop of 150 meters.

Mass Start
Yeah, you guessed it. In the mass start all 30 athletes start at the same time, and this makes it one of the most exciting individual competitions. The distance is 12.5 kilometers for women and 15 km for men. The athletes go through four shootings, and as usual, a 150 meter penalty loop awaits for every miss.


About biathlon

When an athlete approaches the shooting range, they have a pulse of about 190-195, which usually drops to 170-175 during shooting. When they exit the shooting range, it is about 40. The biathlon rules require a small bore rifle with rim cartridge primer in caliber 22 l.r. for shooting. The trigger pull weight must be minimum 500 grams. The rifle should weigh minimum 3.5 kilograms including all equipment.

Slight adjuster
When the targets are 4.5 cm for prone and 11.5 cm for standing with a 50 cm distance from the shooting range, the athletes have to evaluate weather conditions on their own, with some clues from the flags.

Ammunition
The ammunition used is of caliber 22. The bullet is 5.6 mm wide, weighs 2.6 grams and is 12.5 mm long. The bullet leaves the barrel with a 380 m/sec speed.

The targets
After a bullet has left the barrel it only takes a small hundreth of a second before the target is hit.


What does Team Norway know about biathlon?

See how Johannes Thingnes Bø, Marte Olsbu Røiseland, Sturla Holm Lægreid and others score on our biathlon quiz, and test your own knowledge!