Biathlon consists of cross country skiing in which the skier stops at intervals to shoot at a target. Evidence of a skiing and shooting sport exists in cave paintings in Norway from about 2000 BC, depicting hunters on skis while stalking animals for game. The modern sport has a military basis, in which Scandinavian soldiers were trained to ski while carrying rifles and to periodically stop and shoot. Biathlon-type events in Scandinavia are known to have been held as early as the 18th century. The first modern biathlon probably occurred in 1912 when the Norwegian military organised the Forvarsrennet in Oslo. An annual event, it consisted initially of a 17km cross-country ski race with two-minute penalties for the shooting part of the competition. Biathlon events consisted of a single men's race and a men's relay until 1980, when a second individual event was added. The event is scored by time. In the shooting portion of the longer individual race, a one-minute penalty is imposed for missing a bulls-eye, and a two-minute penalty is imposed for missing a target. In the shorter individual race and the relay, missing a target is penalised by requiring the athlete to ski a 150m penalty loop. For 2002, a new pursuit event of 12.5km for men and 10km for women has been added to the Olympic programme.

List of events

• men

  1. 20KM INDIVIDUAL

  2. 10KM SPRINT

  3. 4X7.5KM RELAY

  4. 12.5KM PURSUIT

  5. 15KM MASS START

• women

  1. 15KM INDIVIDUAL

  2. 7.5KM SPRINT

  3. 4X6KM RELAY

  4. 10KM PURSUIT

  5. 12.5KM MASS START

• mixed

  1. MIXED RELAY

  2. MIXED RELAY (2X6KM WOMEN + 2X7.5KM MAN)