Biathlon

__ The Two Part Sport __ Have you ever had the feeling of the wind rushing through your hair and heard the crowd cheering because you have just shot a perfect score? Well I haven’t, but a lot of people have and they love the feeling! They participate in a very unique sport, known as the Biathlon. The Biathlon is 2 sports combined into one event. The Biathlon consists of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. It was not always used as a sport though, and it started WAY before the Olympics started to take place. As early as 2000 B.C., hunters used the biathlon as a way to put food on the table. Starting in the mid-16th century, Scandinavian’s began using troops on skis to defend their homes against their enemies. The word “Biathlon” comes from the Greek word meaning 2 tests. Today, it consists of 10 separate events that involve cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. The object of the game is to complete the course in the least amount of time, hitting as many targets as possible to avoid any penalties. If you miss a target you get a penalty. The penalty is, you have to ski and additional 150 kilometers for each target that you miss. The person who finishes the course in the least amount of time, with the least amount of penalties, wins the gold. It sounds easy, but you have to be careful not to miss any targets! There are many tools used in the Biathlon. Let’s start with the components that have to do with the rifles. There are the rifle’s ammunition, which uses the .22-calibre rifle bullets, and there is the arm sling which is used to stabilize the rifle and the Biathlete’s arm while shooting. Next is the harness, which is used to carry the rifle, and lastly there is the magazine which is used to hold the .22-calibre rifle bullets. There is also the shooting mat. A shooting mat is a non-slip mat that biathletes use when they shoot so they don’t slip on any snow. There are many different biathletes from the U.S.A. There are males such as Lowell Bailey, Lanny Barnes, Tim Burke, and Jay Hakkine. Don’t forget abut the females, such as the all important Laura Specton and Sara Studebaker. Even though these are biathletes, not all of them have won medals for the U.S.A. however, others have. The medalists are Haley Johnson, Laura Spector, and our very own Lanny Barnes and Sara Studebaker. I hope you have learned a lot about Biathlon from history to tools to the athletes involved! You may not think so, but Biathlon is one of the most famous sports in the Winter Olympics and I would love to learn how to play the game!