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A steady hand, a keen eye, the endurance of a cross-country skier ... the
biathlon, maybe the oldest of skiing sports in the Olympics, demands it all.
In the biathlon, the faster you are on skis, and the calmer you stay
while firing a smallbore rifle, determines how well you will do.
Biathletes freestyle across the course, stop, fire at targets 50K away
from either a standing or a prone position, then do it all again. Fatigue
is as big a part of the sport as aim.
There are three biathlon events for both men and women. Men run a 20K
individual race, a 10K sprint and a 4 x 7.5K relay. Women run a 15K
individual, a 7.5K sprint and a 4 x 7.5K relay.
During the individual race, athletes shoot four times -- prone, standing,
prone, standing -- while in the sprints and relays, athletes shoot just
twice -- prone and standing. Athletes take one shot at each of five
targets. A miss will add a minute to the athlete's time in the individual
competition. In the sprints and relays, competitors have to do a 150M
penalty loop for a miss.
Europeans have dominated the sport, which held its first competition in
1776 in Norway.
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Ricco Gross, Germany, leads overall World Cup standings
Frode Andresen, Norway, leads overall sprint World Cup standings
Magdalena Forsberg, Sweden, leads World Cup in individual, sprint,
pursuit and overall
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| Feb. 8 |
Women's 15 K
1:00 p.m. JT (11:00 p.m. ET Feb. 8)
Men's 20K
1:00 p.m. JT (11:00 p.m. ET Feb. 8) |
| Feb. 15 |
Women's 7.5K
1:00 p.m. JT (11:00 p.m. ET Feb. 8) |
| Feb. 17 |
Men's 10K
1:00 p.m. JT (11:00 p.m. ET Feb. 8) |
| Feb. 19 |
Women's 4 x 7.5K relay
1:00 p.m. JT (11:00 p.m. ET Feb. 8) |
| Feb. 21 |
Men's 4 x 7.5K relay
1:00 p.m. JT (11:00 p.m. ET Feb. 8) |
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