Beijing 2022 Bluffer’s Guide: Biathlon

What is it?

As if skiing wasn’t already fun enough, imagine skiing but with guns. 

Surprisingly, randomly adding guns into the mix didn’t come from the United States. The sport began in Norway as a form of military training. Norwegian skiing regiments even hosted competitions where contestants would shoot a target while skiing at top speed. 

A biathlon competition is a cross-country skiing race with two or four shooting rounds. Depending on the skiers performance in the shooting, extra time or distance will be added. The athlete with the fastest time then wins.

During the race, skiers must carry their gun at all times and shoot targets in both prone and standing positions, combining physical endurance with precision accuracy. The moments before biathletes take to the shooting range, their heartbeat has been known to go up to 180BPM.

There are five different types of a biathlon race: individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start and relay.

When is it?

February 5-19.

Where is it?

National Biathlon Center, Zhangjiakou Zone. 

Who’s gonna win?

Germany and Norway are the two most successful nations in biathlon Olympic history; they’ve amassed over 90 Olympic medals between them. That’s more than the following five nations combined. 

In the 2018 Pyeongchang Winter Olympic Games, Norway’s Johannes Thingnes Bo won gold in the individual race and silver in both relay and mixed relay. In the 2021 world championship, he went one better, picking up gold in the men’s and mixed relay. 

Also for Norway, Tiril Eckhoff is the most decorated Olympic female athlete in the sport. She has five medals (one gold, one silver and three bronze) going into her third Winter Olympics; she’s certainly no stranger to the process. 

Viewers should also pay attention to Czech Marketa Davidova. The 24-year-old is quickly rising through the ranks. In her first world championships, she finished 43rd. In her second, she was 8th. Last year, she beat the reigning Olympic champion to become world champion. 

What about China?

Team China just scraped through qualifications after Zhao Jiawen finished 22nd out of a possible 30. The country’s Chinese Nordic biathlon team was established in June 2018 and has six athletes. This year’s Beijing Games is their Olympic debut. Could it be first time lucky?

Check out all 15 events in our Beijing 2022 Bluffer’s Guide by scanning the QR code:

[Cover image via Wikimedia]