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Biathlon is a winter Olympic sport, a combination of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

A biathlon race consists of participants skiing around a cross-country trail system. The total distance is broken into two or four shooting rounds, half in a standing position and the other half in a prone position. Extra time is added to the participant's total running time depending on his or her shooting performance. In each shooting round, the participants must hit five targets.

If the participant misses a target, this should be "atoned for" in 3 ways: skiing around a 150-meter penalty loop, adding one minute to the skier's total time, or using an extra cartridge to finish the target. Split times are taken at several points on the course so that the participants' progress can be tracked. Biathlon is an official sport at the Winter Olympics.

Variants

Nordic field biathlon is similarly a combined sport of cross-country skiing and shooting, considered a close predecessor to Olympic biathlon. The main difference between Nordic field biathlon and Olympic biathlon is the use of fullbore rifles and paper targets placed in the terrain with time penalties added for misses. Another variant of biathlon is summer biathlon, which is a combination of roller skiing (or sometimes trail running) and rifle shooting. The discontinued Winter Olympic sport of Modern Pentathlon is considered a precursor of the sport of biathlon.

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Similar Sports

• Summer Biathlon — a combined sport of roller skiing (or trail running) and rifle shooting.
• Biathlon Orienteering — a combination of the navigation sport of orienteering with rifle shooting.
• Target Sprint — a combination of sprint running and air rifle shooting.
• Cross-Country Skiing — races over snow-covered terrain while wearing skis.
• Speed Golf — a variation of golf in which the objective is to complete the course in the fewest possible number of strokes and the fastest time possible.
• Laser Run — four legs of laser pistol shooting, each followed by an 800m run. It is also the final leg of the modern pentathlon.
• Triathle — a shortened version of the Modern Pentathlon, athletes compete in shooting, swimming and running events as a part of a single race.
• Winter Triathlon — athletes compete in running, mountain biking and cross-country skiing.
• Modern Pentathlon — comprises five events: fencing, 200m swim, show jumping, and combined pistol shooting and 3200m run.
• Ski Archery — a combined sport involving skiing and shooting arrows at targets.

Related Pages

• About Shooting Sports
• Biathlon at the Winter Olympics
• Military Patrol at the Olympics
• About Multi-Sports
• The complete list of sports
• The Encyclopedia of Sports