Take a pair of skinny skis and a precision rifle. Bang – you've got one of the most challenging winter sports around.
The basics
You'll need to pass a rifle safety certification course to use the .22 calibre target rifles with non-optical sights. These guns are light, but can't be less than 7.5 lbs.
Your goal? Hit the metal competition targets 50m away. Yes. It's as difficult as it sounds.
Competition
There are lots of variations on the biathlon, but individual competition of the most popular type.
Competitors start the 20km race at intervals of 30 seconds or a minute and must complete four firing sessions each of five rounds.
These firing sessions must be interspersed with skiing and must come between the 3 and 17.5km distance, with at least 3km between each firing session. The distance to the target is 50m, with a target diameter of 45mm for the prone position and 115mm for the standing position. A penalty of one minute is added to the finishing time for each target they misses
Famous Names
Michael Dixon is Britain's most successful biathlete – his best result is 12th place in the 1992 Albertville Olympics. For news and information regarding Biathlon events, see Biathlon World.
