The biathlon is a winter sport that combines cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

It is treated as a race, with contestants skiing through a cross-country trail whose distance is divided into shooting rounds.

"[1] In modern times, the activity that developed into this sport was an exercise for Norwegians as alternative training for the military.

Norwegian skiing regiments organized military skiing contests in the 18th century, divided into four classes: shooting at mark while skiing at top speed, downhill race among trees, downhill race on big hills without falling, and a long race on flat ground while carrying a rifle and military pack.

In modern terminology, these military contests included downhill, slalom, biathlon, and cross-country skiing.

[3] In Norway, the biathlon was until 1984 a branch of Det frivillige Skyttervesen, an organization set up by the government to promote civilian marksmanship in support of national defence.

[4] In Norway, there are still separate contests in skifeltskyting, a cross-country race at 12 km with large-caliber rifle shooting at various targets with unknown range.

[5] Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was contested at the Winter Olympic Games in 1924 and then demonstrated in 1928, 1936, and 1948, during which time Norway and Finland were strong competitors.

[7][8] The first Biathlon World Championship was held in 1958 in Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games.

The shooting range was further reduced to 50 m in 1978 with the mechanical self-indicating targets making their debut at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.

Depending on the shooting performance, extra distance or time is added to the contestant's total skiing distance/time.

For each shooting round, the biathlete must hit five targets or receive a penalty for each missed target, which varies according to the competition rules as follows:[12] In order to keep track of the contestants' progress and relative standing throughout a race, split times (intermediate times) are taken at several points along the skiing track and upon finishing each shooting round.

The biathlete carries a small-bore rifle, which must weigh at least 3.5 kg (7.7 lb), excluding ammunition and magazines.

On all modern biathlon ranges, the targets are self-indicating, in that they flip from black to white when hit, giving the biathlete, as well as the spectators, instant visual feedback for each shot fired.

[17] In a pursuit, biathletes' starts are separated by their time differences from a previous race,[20] most commonly a sprint.

The distance is 12.5 km for men and 10 km for women, skied over five laps; there are four shooting bouts (two prone, two standing, in that order) and each miss means a penalty loop of 150 m. To prevent awkward or dangerous crowding of the skiing loops and overcapacity at the shooting range, World Cup Pursuits are held with only the 60 top-ranking biathletes after the preceding race.

However, the last three can only be single-loaded manually one at a time from spare round holders or bullets deposited by the competitor into trays or onto the mat at the firing line.

The event is run on a 1.5 km (0.93 mi) track with a 75 m (246 ft) penalty loop, and each team consists of a female and a male runner.

Specific to this format, the exchange happens immediately after the last shooting of each leg without skiing an additional lap (as is usually the case).

Biathlon events are broadcast most regularly where the sport enjoys its greatest popularity, namely Germany (ARD, ZDF), Austria (ORF), Norway (NRK), France (L'Équipe 21), Finland (YLE), Estonia (ETV), Latvia (LTV), Lithuania (LRT), Croatia (HRT), Poland (Polsat), Ukraine (UA:PBC), Sweden (SVT), Russia (Match TV, Channel One), Belarus (TVR), Slovakia (RTVS), Slovenia (RTV), Bosnia and Herzegovina (BHRT), Bulgaria (BNT), and South Korea (KBS); it is broadcast on European-wide Eurosport, which also broadcasts to the Asia-Pacific region.

[25] The IBU maintains biathlon records, rules, news, videos, and statistics for many years back, all of which are available at its web site.