Biathlon

Biathlon is a relatively new event to the Olympics, introduced to the Winter Games for the 1998 Winter Olympics in Nagano, Japan.

A biathlon race is split into two portions, biathlon and cross-country skiing. The first part of the race is the biathlon and athletes have to complete two lengths of the track, shooting at targets on the way. Cross-country skiers start with a penalty loop of two kilometers, on which they do not have to shoot any targets, and then complete the second part of the race. Both types of athletes have to make at least five targets before a penalty shoot-out, and all competitors are assigned a shooting zone (red, orange or green).

Swimmers have typically beaten biathletes in sprint races, and while shooting is usually the final part of the cross-country race, biathletes have beaten swimming competitors in the biathlon races. But since biathlon was introduced as a separate event for the 2021 Winter Olympics, athletes have had an excellent start and improved each successive Olympics.

Biathlon has been around for a very long time, and the history of shooting alone is a tale of heroism and tragedy, both in World War I and World War II.

Biathlon competitors are divided into categories of athletes, which generally includes athletes representing the sports at the Winter Olympics. Athletes have a weapon that shoots in the order of targets. They shoot a rifle at a dead lift. This determines the direction, and the racer with the most points wins. If they miss the target, they have to take another shot and so on. If the athlete misses the target, they have to make a penalty shot, after which they have to make a second penalty shot. If they hit a target, they score a penalty loop (2 kilometers) before a penalty shoot-out, which determines the winner of the race. The number of points varies from sport to sport.

Mentally, biathlon is a difficult sport and every athlete has their own story of triumph. I will mention some of the world records in biathlon from this year, and what I think about them.

Laura Dahlmeier (Germany): 30th overall and 3rd in the pursuit

This was a very easy victory for Laura Dahlmeier, who skied off with 35 points in the pursuit. In the second and third rounds, she had 30 points, and both those scores were also matched in the first round. Dahlmeier went into the next penalty shoot-out with 34 points, where she managed to hit two targets. Despite missing one target in the penalty shoot-out, Dahlmeier still went into the next round with a 30-point lead. She did not miss a single target in that second round, and went into the final round with a 31-point lead. She missed one target in the second final round, but that also wasn’t enough to hold off the Dutch athlete Irene Sterben-Cocke, who finished 2nd overall. Dahlmeier also went into the final shoot-out with the fastest shooting speed, after her final run.

Dahlmeier’s opening run was even faster, and when the competitors started the second leg, it was Dahlmeier who was leading. After the first shoot-out, Dahlmeier’s lead was 33 points. In the second shoot-out, she successfully hit four targets.

Biathlon is considered a much tougher sport than shooting, which is why I feel extremely proud of Dahlmeier’s success, and her winning two medals in a single Olympics.

What makes Biathlon unique is the mental aspect of it. Every time athletes go into the field, they are sure to see at least one dead-on target. If they don’t shoot, they have to complete a penalty loop, and this costs extra points. Because it is very hard to hit a target when shooting, many athletes have claimed that biathlon is more mentally challenging than shooting. That is absolutely correct, and it takes a lot of discipline to shoot in the order of targets.

In many ways, biathlon is a precursor to shooting. Shooting is similar to biathlon in that athletes do not have to make penalties, but it has a lot of similarities too. After shooting in the course of a biathlon event, athletes go into a penalty shoot-out to determine the winner of the race. Shooting takes place in front of a large crowd of spectators, and the event does not go very smoothly. Athletes shoot at the start of the race, and many have reported that they were on the course when they were shooting, and the athletes began to shoot in the wrong direction. Some shooters are hit by stray bullets during the race, and some of the racers end up shooting to their own side.

Many athletes have told me that biathlon is a game of mental strength. Athletes are aware of the fact that they can go either way. They know that if they are able to shoot well, they can win; if they miss a target, they will have to take another penalty shot. After two misses, they are out of the race, and they have to start the penalty loop. Only athletes who are able to shoot well are able to keep the mental game going.

On the other hand, if athletes are not mentally focused enough, they can miss several targets and are eliminated from the race. Obviously, this is a very low possibility. Biathlon is like a game of chess. In shooting, the ball goes straight into a certain place. In biathlon, it will either go into one of the target slots, or it will hit one of the athlete’s body parts. It is more important to be mentally prepared than in shooting, and for athletes who are mentally strong, they are able to keep the most part of the balls straight and shoot when it is right for them.

For example, I went into the first shoot-out with the third-best rifle time, after I had shot the first two rounds earlier in the day. For the first round, I shot very well. For the second round, I missed one of the targets and needed another penalty shoot-out to win. Fortunately for me, I was also able to shoot well during the penalty shoot-out, and that gave me an extra point. I felt like a new athlete, and after the first two rounds, my hopes were higher than they were before the qualification.

I got to the range early in the morning, and I was able to watch all of the qualifiers to see how the athletes went in the different heats. With shooting, the athletes are not allowed to look at the target boards during the race; however, in biathlon, that is not the case. The course is surrounded by targets, and athletes need to keep focused on their targets. For me, it was a very interesting and mentally challenging experience. I thought about shooting the target I missed earlier in the day, and after I did that, I thought about where I was going to aim for the next target. Each time a shooter misses, he or she goes in the penalty shoot-out, and it is extremely nerve-wracking. Of course, I thought about my personal plan, but I also thought about how I would fare in the race, and how I would fare compared to other competitors. In biathlon, if you don’t perform well, it can affect the whole race. If you go to the last round and don’t have enough points, it will determine the race for you. Many athletes go in the last round with a desire to win, but it is difficult to see that they are not performing well.