WINTER OLYMPICS BIATHLON

OLYMPIC SPORT SINCE 1960

BIATHLON was originally a tactic of survival rather than a sport. Northern Europeans skied to hunt for food and, later, skied with weapons to defend their countries. The word "biathlon" stems from the Greek word for two contests. Today it is interpreted as a joining of two sports: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

In 1960, Biathlon joined the International Modern Pentathlon Union (UIPM). But in 1993, an agreement was made to retain the Union as an umbrella body under which the UIPM and the IBU could act autonomously. It took effect in 1998, but the two sports maintain relations in various projects.

The first modern biathlon probably occurred in 1912 when the Norwegian military organized the Forvarsrennet in Oslo. An annual event, it consisted initially of a 17km cross-country ski race with two-minute penalties for the shooting part of the competition. A military patrol event was included at the Olympic Winter Games as a demonstration sport in 1924, 1928, 1936, and 1948, although it was not exactly the same as the biathlon. The event was removed from the Games after World War II because of post-war sensitivities. Officially, biathlon was added to the Olympic program at the 1960 Squaw Valley Games with a men's 20km individual event. In 1968, the four-man relay event was added to the program and the sprint competition was added 12 years later in Lake Placid. In 1992, women made their Olympic biathlon debut with individual, sprint and relay events in Albertville. The men's and women's pursuit events will be contested for the first time in the Olympics in Salt Lake.

Biathlon consists of eight events in the Olympic program. Men and women compete in a sprint, pursuit, individual and relay. Although all biathlon disciplines combine skiing and marksmanship, the sport features several distinct events.

Sprint
During the sprint, women race 7.5km and men race 10km. Competitors stop twice and must hit all five targets with five bullets. For each target missed, athletes take a lap around the 150m penalty loop. The top 60 finishers of this competition qualify for the pursuit.

Pursuit
In the pursuit, the competitors start at intervals based on their finishing time in the sprint competition. Women race 10km and men race 12.5km. Competitors stop four times and must hit all five targets with five bullets. For each target missed, athletes take a lap around the 150m penalty loop.

Individual
In the individual event, women race 15km and men race 20km. All competitors stop four times at the firing range and must hit all five targets with five bullets. For each target missed, one minute is added to their total time.

Relay
The relay is a fast-paced team event in which four-person teams tackle four 7.5km legs for a total of 30km. It begins with a mass start by the first skiers of their respective teams. Each team member has two firing sequences and is allowed three extra bullets (a total of eight) to hit five targets, yet must load the three extra bullets one by one. For each target left standing, competitors ski a lap around the 150m penalty loop.

Soviet athletes have dominated Olympic biathlon competition. Including 1992, when the athletes were competing as the Unified Team, the former Soviet Union captured a total of 25 medals, including 11 golds. The men's relay team from the Soviet Union won the first six relay competitions until the Germans finally beat them in 1992. The Russian federation has continued the Soviet's success, winning eight medals in the last two Winter Games, including four golds. Biathlon is one of three sports in which the United States never has won an Olympic medal (luge and nordic combined are the others). The best U.S. individual performance at the Olympics is the 14th-place showing by John Burritt in the 20km at the 1960 Games and Peter Karns in the 20km at the 1972 Games.

VERIFIED FEB 19, 2002

MEN

1924 Military Patrol (Team) won by Switzerland

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