Biathlon history
The sport has its origins in an exercise for Norwegian soldiers. The first known competition took place in 1767 when border patrol companies competed against each other. Gradually the sport became more common throughout Scandinavia as an alternative training for the military.
Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was demonstrated at the Olympic Winter Games in 1924, 1928, 1936 and 1948, but did not gain Olympic recognition then, as the small number of competing countries disagreed on the rules (see also Governing body, below). During the mid-1950s, however, biathlon was introduced into the Russian and Swedish winter sport circuits and was widely enjoyed by the public. This newfound popularity aided the effort of having biathlon gain entry into the Winter Olympics, where it has later become one of the most cherished sports.
The first World Championship in biathlon was held in 1958 in Austria, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first allowed in Olympic biathlon.
The competitions from 1958 to 1965, using NATO calibers of 3.08mm, then a Large bore 0.223 before the 0.22LR (5.56mm) was standardized in 1978. The ammounition was carried in a belt worn around the competitor’s waist. With the only competiton being the Men’s 20km Individual, four different ranges and firing distances of 100m, 150m, 200m, and 250m. The distance was reduced to a single 150m station with the addition of the Relay in 1966. The shooting range was further reduced to a single 50m station in 1978 with the mechanical targets being making their debut at the 1980 Winter Olympics in Lake Placid.
This guide is licensed under the GNU Free Documentation License. It uses material from the Wikipedia.
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