Biathlon Trivia

1. Biathlon is a competitive sport that combines which two activities?

From Quiz Bullets over Biathlon

Answer: Cross-country skiing and rifle shooting

In its standard format, biathlon consists of cross-country skiers navigating a course wherein they are tasked with stopping to shoot multiple targets. The competitor with the shortest time to complete the course wins. While it is historically tied to Norway and Scandinavia in its origins, competitors worldwide have participated in championship and Olympic events.

From Quiz Men's Biathlon

Answer: Ole Einar Bjoerndalen

Ole Einar Bjoerndalen is a sporting Goliath, but a very nice, caring and modest man aswell. His great rivals are Poiree and Greis, but they have been nowhere near as successful. Mike Dixon was a good biathlete in is own right, and certainly the best that Britain has ever produced, but he was never as good as the other three.

From Quiz Bullets over Biathlon

Answer: Prone position and standing position

Biathlon competitions have anywhere from 2-4 shooting rounds and half of the rounds are completed in the prone position, where the competitor is laying on their stomach, and the other half are in the standing position.

From Quiz Men's Biathlon

Answer: Michael Greis

Greis, surprisingly for some did better than anyone else at the 2006 Winter Olympics, although it was not just Bjoerndalen, but the whole of the Norwegian team, who underperformed in Turin. Roesch and Gross helped Greis to gold in the relay, but were nowhere near as good individually.

From Quiz Shooting Stars and Slippery Slopes

Answer: A rifle

The rifle, carried on the athlete's back, should be a .22 caliber and have a minimum weight of 3.5 kg. According to the official IBU rules, "the rifles may not be of automatic or semi-automatic design. Loading or unloading may be executed only by the competitor's muscle force."

From Quiz Shooting Stars and Slippery Slopes

Answer: Individual (20 km/15 km)

Typically, a biathlete has to complete an extra lap of 150 meters for each missed target. In the individual competition however, which is 20 km for men and 15 km for women, each missed target adds a 1 minute penalty to the biathlete's total time.

From Quiz Bullets over Biathlon

Answer: Bolt-Action

Competition rifles must be bolt action or Fortner rifles, which are a specific style of bolt action rifles where there is a straight-pull that is inline with the gun's barrelled action. Fortunately the rifles are equipped with safety devices as competitors must carry them throughout the race.

From Quiz Men's Biathlon

Answer: 2003/4

Bjoerndalen and Poiree have really fought it out since the late 1990s, although there are now other people, such as Michael Greis, who are closing in on their dominance. Poiree has now retired, but his final race was one of the most thrilling finishes ever, comparing only with that of Deyzemlya's Mass Start mentioned above.

From Quiz Shooting Stars and Slippery Slopes

Answer: Ole Einar Bjørndalen

After "just" one Gold and one Silver medal in Nagano, Bjørndalen won a Gold medal in every biathlon race held at the 2002 Olympics. He was the first biathlete ever to accomplish this. The Olympic program for biathlon consists of the individual competition, the sprint, the pursuit, and the relay. Frode Andresen was in the Norwegian relay team together with Bjørndalen, while Ricco Gross won a silver medal with the German team. Johan Olav Koss was a famous Norwegian speed skater.

From Quiz Shooting Stars and Slippery Slopes

Answer: International Biathlon Union (IBU)

The UIPMB was founded in 1948, standardising the rules for both pentathlon and biathlon. The International Biathlon Union was founded as a tree of the UIPMB in July 1993, and they separated formally in 1998.

From Quiz Men's Biathlon

Answer: 5

It is surprising that a man as successful as Bjoerndalen has not taken more Olympic Golds, although it was phenomenal when he took the clean sweep of Gold Medals at Salt Lake City in 2002. He got 4 Golds at Salt Lake City, and 1, in the sprint at Nagano in 1998. Although he medaled at Turin, he did not get another gold. Bjoerndalen has 9 Olympic medals.

From Quiz Bullets over Biathlon

Answer: Skate skis

Skate skis operate more closely to ice skates, given their design. Skate skis require their own special boots, poles, and bindings. Most competition requires that skate skis be only 3-4 cm taller than the skiers height. Biathletes are encouraged to be adept in using classic skis, but they are not used in competition. Classic, backcountry touring, and light touring are other kinds of Nordic skis used for cross-country, alpine touring, or telemark (combines Alpine and Nordic skiing).

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