Insight into the Rules of Biathlon – The Most Popular Winter Kind of Sport

Biathlon is a winter Olympic kind of sport combining ski race and shooting, which means the biathletes should have varied skills to succeed in the given sport. There are male and female biathlon competitions.

Main Rules

The participants of a race start after a corresponding signal. Depending on discipline, the start can be either common for all or split (the athletes start over stipulated intervals). A certain distance being overcome, the biathletes should deal with target shooting. Every missed shot will result either in the necessity to pass a penalty lap or a fixed penalty time being added. The winner is an athlete who manages to show the best result for the given distance.

In a race, the biathletes may not:

• shortcut the laps;
• ignore penalty laps;
• exercise intentional physical effect on other athletes.

Race Stages

A skiing stage is clear enough; it is not very different from a standard ski race. The biathletes use a freestyle to ski. With this, it is necessary to consider a target shooting stage in more details. Depending on discipline, the biathletes can choose shooting lanes either in a random order (Sprint or Pursuit) or in the right order (Mass Start events) starting from the first free lane. When it comes to the first shooting stage at Mass Start events, a biathlete should take a shooting lane, the number of which is that same as the start number of the biathlete’s team. The same rule governs the shooting order in Relays.

In Relays, the biathletes may use 3 additional bullets (8 attempts in total) at each shooting stage. In all the other biathlon disciplines, the athletes have only 5 attempts for each stage.

Shooting Position

When it comes to shooting, there are two positions the biathletes can adopt.

Shooting in the prone position should meet the following requirements:

• the rifle may be in contact with hands, shoulders and a biathlete’s cheek only;
• the inner side of the hand (the palm) supporting the rifle should be significantly raised above the ground (the mantle of snow) level.
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As for shooting in the standing position, the requirements are the following:

• the athletes should stand without any supporting elements;
• the rifle may be in contact with the hands, cheek, shoulders, and the corresponding breast side only;
• it is possible to lead the supporting hand against the breast or thigh.

Skiing Track and Shooting Zone

Biathlon tracks should meet the same requirements as tracks for ordinary skiing. With this, biathlon competitions are held at objects including the space of a central stadium that is surrounded by the net of skiing tracks. The stadium space usually includes:

• shooting zone;
• start and finish zones that must be also suitable for Mass Start events;
• 150-meter penalty lap;
• technical building;
• testing zone;
• team rooms for lubricating the skis;
• spectators zone, and other necessary elements.

Start and finish zones, shooting zone, penalty lap, and changeover zone should be close up for the majority of spectators to easily and perfectly watch the competitions course. These zones and track critical parts should be fenced up to prevent the biathletes from straying from the right way and alien persons from entering the road. With this, the height and the quantity of the fences should be minimized as it is possible to not create any hindrances for the competitions broadcasting.

The start line that should be perpendicular to the ski direction is of the red color. The starting ski-runs should be numbered according to their quantity. The number of marking signs should correspond to the number of teams participating in the race. The sign should be leftward from every ski-run and at a height of at least 20 cm. In this case, they will be perfectly visible both to the athletes and the spectators.

The starting zone should be equipped with the panel displaying the track route and profile. The starting line should also have a color indicator to show the order of passing the track. When it comes to Sprints and Individual races, there should be a perfectly visible timer in the starting zone. As for Pursuits, the timers should be in every starting ski-run. Also, there must be a clock displaying the current time of day. The tracks should have the flagging that will eliminate any doubts among the biathletes concerning the correctness of their movement at any moment.

The shooting zone is the place where the athletes deal with target shooting. The zone should be located in the stadium center for the majority of spectators to be able perfectly to perfectly see both the targets and the shooting line. The shooting zone should be smooth, horizontal, and surrounded by safety barriers from all the sides. The shooting zone position and equipment must provide the safety at adjacent tracks and within the stadium. The equipment should not create any barriers for the spectators of broadcasting.

The shooting direction should contribute to creating the best illumination conditions during the competition. That is why northwards is the most popular direction.

In front of the shooting zone, there must be a fenced territory of 25 meters wide for judges, technical staff, and the athletes themselves. Near the finish and changeover zones, there must be food service areas and heated dressing rooms for each team.

The target in biathlon is represented by a black circle of 115 mm in diameter. When it comes to the shooting in the standing position, hitting any part of the circle counts, while the athletes should hit the 45-mm-diameter circle that is in the center of the target from the prone position.

Equipment

The biathletes use small-bore rifles to hit the targets. To be more exact, the rifle uses .22 LR ammunition and should not be heavier than 3.5 kilos. The rifles are equipped with the trigger block mechanism, while reloading can be performed manually. Moreover, the cartridge can contain a maximum of five bullets.

As for the skis, their minimal length should be at least 4 cm shorter than the biathlete’s height. Ski sticks are high enough; in general, their height corresponds to the biathlete’s chin or mouth. Finally, all the biathletes should wear a special suit that will keep the body temperature and decrease the wind resistance.

Disciplines

Sprint. The track for men is 10 km and the track for women is 7.5 km. The biathletes must overcome two shooting stages – one in the standing position and one in the prone position. If a biathlete misses, he or she must go to the 150-meter penalty lap. The biathletes start Sprint in turns. Sprint is the first stage in biathlon competitions.

Pursuit. The starting order is determined by the sprint results. The track length is 12.5 km for men and 10 km for women. Unlike Sprints, Pursuit has 4 shooting stages – two in the prone position and two in the standing position.

Mass Start. It can be clear from the name that all the biathletes start the race simultaneously. Another characteristic feature of this event is that 30 best athletes of the year participate in it. The Mass Start length is 15 km for men and 12.5 km for women with 4 shooting stages.

Individual race. This is the longest race in biathlon. Men should overcome 20 km and women – 15 km with 4 shooting stages. Every missed shot in the given race will result in the penalty minutes rather than in the penalty laps.

Relay. This competition is held among teams with 4 athletes in each. Each of them should deal with a distance of 7.5 km and 2 shooting stages. It is important that the athletes can use three additional bullets in case of missed shots. The reloading is manual. The Relay is similar to the other biathlon disciplines because there are different competitions for men and for women.

Biathlon Cup Competitions

1. Biathlon World Cup. The tournament consists of various stages, each of which includes several races for men and women. The competitions are held between men and women and include Individual races, Sprint, Pursuit, Mass Start, Relay, Mixed Relay, and Individual Mixed Relay. The Biathlon World Cup will present the rankings of the best biathletes both in separate disciplines and in the overall standing.
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2. Biathlon European Cup. It is the second prestigious biathlon tournament in the world after the Biathlon World Cup.
3. Biathlon North American Cup.
4. Biathlon South American Cup.
5. Biathlon Asian Cup.

Other Biathlon Competitions

The Olympic Games. It is the most prestigious biathlon international competition.

Biathlon World Championships. It is the largest biathlon international tournament; it ranks the 2nd prestigious competition after the Olympics.

Biathlon Open European Championships.

North American Championships.

South American Championships.

Asian Championships.

Governing Body

The International Biathlon Union (IBU) – is an international biathlon federation that unites all the national federations and other bodies representing biathlon. Its headquarters are located in Austria.

History

Ski hunting that was quite popular among various northern peoples is said to be the ancestor of biathlon. The fact is supported by the 5000-year-old cave paintings that were found in Norway. It was for the first time in 1767 when the Swedish-Norwegian border guards held the competitions that had some common features with modern biathlon. The participants needed to descend from a medium slope and hit the particular target from the distance of 40-50 steps.

The 1924 Olympics witnessed the first military patrol competitions were held. That kind of sport had a lot of similarities with biathlon. The International Olympic Committee (IOC) officially recognized biathlon as a kind of sport in 1954. With this, it was not until November 17, 1956, when the International Modern Pentathlon Union developed and approved the official rules of governing biathlon competitions.