Biathlon

Imagine a physical activity in which one pushes himself/herself to the limits of endurance, then stops to shoot at a target with a steady hand, and you have some idea of the demands of biathlon. The two opposing skills meet at the shooting range when, with hearts pounding and lungs bursting from more than a kilometer of fast skate skiing, biathletes unload their .22 calibre rifles and aim for a target the size of a ‘twooney’ fifty metres away, squeezing the trigger five times before skiing off to repeat the activity.

Canada¹s Meriam Bedard won two gold medals at the 1994 Winter Olympics in Lillehammer, Norway, raising the profile of the sport in our country. Biathlon is now an integral part of winter games at all levels, from Olympic competition to small winter clubs. The extreme physical demands of the sport are matched by the cost of maintaining and replacing equipment.

Russell Bird, a University of Alberta student, who participated in the Winter Universiade in Innsbruck in 2007, says, “If you fall and hear a snap, you pray it¹s your leg and not your pole.” This hyperbole serves to underscore the financial demands of the sport.

Biathlon has its roots noted in petroglyphs some 5,000 years ago in Norway,when hunters with spears were depicted travelling on skis. The competitive sport goes back to 1767, with a race between Swedish and Norwegian border guards. The organization of modern competitions did not become common until the early 20tth century when the ‘military patrol’ training for defensive purposes grew in popularity among military units. It was contested in the first Winter Olympics at Chamonix, France in 1924 and continued as a winter sport until post-war sentiment caused it to be dropped in 1948.

Biathlon was re-introduced in 1960 at Squaw Valley and has remained an Olympic sport ever since. In 1976, as the result of the high cost of rifle ammunition, the weight and power of ‘military’ rifles, noise, safety and licensing problems, .22 calibre rifles were introduced. This change dramatically altered the sport of biathlon, opening it up to women. As a result, acceptance and popularity of biathlon grew rapidly in Europe. The World Championships in 1978 doubled in size to 28 nations, and today there are 64 nations participating in biathlon. In all this time there has not been an injury from gunfire.

Biathlon in Canada has 12 age categories: midget (8-10), juveniles (11-12),junior boys/girls (13-14), senior boys/girls (15-16), youth men and women(17 18), junior men/women (19-20), men/women (21+), and master men/women(31 +) Although most people who have followed international competition have seen rifles strapped to skier¹s backs as they race around the course,in the B.C. Winter Games, the athletes below senior boys/girls to not carry their rifles while they ski.

The venue for the 2008 Kimberley-Cranbrook B.C. Winter Games is the Kimberley Nordic Trails. Forty competitors (13-14 M&F) accompanied by 16 coaches and six officials will treat spectators with high-level action and precision.

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