Source:

02-12-2009 16:55

The biathlon is a Universiade Winter sport which combines freestyle cross-country skiing and small bore rifle shooting. This discipline requires strength and endurance, as well as the ability to concentrate and technical skills.

The events take place on circuits of various lengths (2 km, 2.5 km, 3 km, 4 km) depending on the specialty.

After each circuit, the athletes must complete a shooting session at the rifle range, each consisting of five shots.

For each target missed competitors must pay a penalty: skiing a 150 m penalty loop or, in the individual events, adding one minute to the total time. The time taken for the four shooting sections is not deducted; therefore each athlete tries to reduce their time in the rifle range to a minimum: the best get their time down to 30 seconds, and are able to hit the five targets in approximately 15 seconds from the first shot. The winner is the athlete who manages to complete the entire circuit in the best time (including the time taken for shooting) with the addition of any penalties incurred. This event consists of the following forms: individual, sprint, pursuit, relay and mass start.