Biathlon competitions are popular in many countries around the world. Broadcasts of the biathlon stages of the World Cup gather millions of viewers in front of TV screens.

The essence of a biathlon race

The essence of biathlon race consists of overcoming on skis the track of a certain length and shooting on the shooting ranges. Athletes shoot with a rifle in a standing or lying position. If a competitor misses, he/she is required to run penalty laps (one lap per miss) or one minute is added to the final result for each miss. Penalties for missing the target depend on the type of race. The rifle is at the athlete’s back during the race. The winner is the biathlete who crosses the finish line fastest and has the fewest misses while shooting.

Today, few people know that the sport’s origins go deep into antiquity. On the territory of Norway, researchers have found rock carvings of hunters on skis. This is due to the large amount of snow in the northern countries and the inconvenience of moving on foot. The origins of the competition shooting skiers are in the military plane. In ancient times, the Norwegians often defended against the raids of the Danish Vikings, and to move quickly over the snowy terrain used a semblance of skis.
The first races similar to modern biathlon were held in 1767 with the participation of the military, serving on the border between Sweden and Norway. Soldiers of these countries competed in a ski race with shooting. Nevertheless, such competitions were not popular and for a long time remained the occupation of the military.

To the full extent races among the military received development in the early 20th century. For the first time in the history the “competitions of military patrols”, which became a prototype of biathlon, were included as demonstration events in the program of the 1st Winter Olympics in 1924. Medals were given to winners and medalists. For 10 years, since 1930, world championships in military patrol races were held.

Development of biathlon after the war

After the end of World War II, biathlon was demilitarized. Non-military athletes gained access to the competition. The International Federation of Modern Pentathlon began to supervise biathlon competitions in 1953. A year later biathlon was recognized as an independent sport. In 1958 the first World Championship was held in Austria. In 1960 biathlon was included in the main program of the Winter Olympics. In 1965 the requirements for shooting changed. From now on, targets had to be shot twice from a standing position and the same number of times from a lying position. In 1978 the firearm was replaced by a sporting rifle. The International Biathlon Union was founded in 1993 and 5 years later it became the International Biathlon Federation.

It should be noted that the development of women’s biathlon started much later. It was not until 1980 that the rules for women’s competitions were determined. Four years later, the first World Championships for women cross-country skiers were held. Until 1998, women’s championships were held separately from men’s. Only in 1992, women’s biathlon was included in the list of Winter Olympics games.

Biathlon is most popular in European countries: Germany, Russia, France and Scandinavian countries. The geography of its popularity includes more than 60 countries. At the beginning of the 21st century biathlon experienced a huge boom and a period of rapid development. Today, not a single major international winter competition takes place without this fascinating sport.