Mass start

Mass start is a format of starting in some racing sports such as long-distance running in sport of athletics, speed skating, long-distance cross-country skiing and biathlon.

There are usually many competitors in such an event, and in order for all the competitors to have the same environmental conditions, which, among other things, include temperature, wind speed, rain or shine, etc., they need to start at the same time and same place and proceed along the same course.

But the large number of competitors makes it impossible to fit all of them at the same starting line.

So the athletes stand in a pack before they begin: some are behind others, sometimes by dozens of meters or more, depending on the number of competitors.

Modern electronic technology has made it possible to get the time lapsed for each individual athlete from their crossing the starting line to their crossing the finishing line, the chip time.