When the going gets tough …
Picture this: it’s snowing relentlessly; you’ve just raced 7km at ‘full beans’ on narrow skis but there’s more than twice that distance still to go and most of it’s uphill. Despite the intense cold, you’re now sweating in your tight aero skinsuit. You know that those damp patches will start to freeze as soon as you stop, chilling you to the bone, but stop you must. There are five .22 rounds waiting to be shot into five tiny 45mm targets 50m away, which in the snow and weak winter light looks a lot farther.
The pressure’s on. You ski hurriedly on to the freezing range mat while trying to sense the wind direction and speed, well aware that each miss will cost you a minute’s time penalty. Around you, your competitors are shooting all five targets in less than 25 seconds but the cold, exertion and your adrenaline levels are keeping your heart rate well above 180bpm. As you shoulder your rifle, bringing the rear sight to your eye, you feel every single disruptive beat pounding through your chest… Welcome to biathlon, a sport so tough, competitive and downright challenging it could only have been invented by someone with a sadistic streak.
The sport’s origins can be traced back to Norwegian military skiing contests in the 18th century and it’s still popular with Nordic regiments. It’s been a central feature of the Winter Olympics since 1960 and Beijing 2022 promises to be another standout year (catch the biathlon schedule from 5 to 19 February).
Ski ’n’ shoot
As the name suggests, biathlon combines two sports: cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. Think about that for a moment and you might conclude that they’re not
Amanda Lightfoot, 35, knows just what it’s like to compete at the highest level. She took part in the Sochi 2014 (Russia) and PyeongChang 2018 (South Korea) Winter Games and, at the time of writing, is tipped to qualify for Beijing. Like many other biathletes, she started her career in the military.
“The British Army introduced me to biathlon. I had never heard of the sport before,” says Amanda. “Once I started though I was hooked, and every day became a challenge to better myself.”
Amanda has been competing for 14 years now and has many fond memories.
“Making the Sochi Olympics after starting the sport six years prior as a complete novice was a fantastic accomplishment. My second Olympics, in PyeongChang, was another big achievement because qualifying just felt
natural bedfellows, which makes biathlon all the more fascinating. Cross-country skiing (skiing uphill for the most part) requires power, exertion, speed, stamina and a lot of movement. It’s reckoned that an athlete will use almost every muscle group in their body completing the 15km-plus race route.
Shooting also requires strength but it’s a precision sport that demands stillness 10 times harder than before. I was so proud of the work I had put in and the dedication I gave to my sport. Other highlights include my 12th place in the mass start in Ridnaun and 31st in the Hochfilzen (both Austria) World Championships.”
of mind and body. It’s a contradictory skill set. Perhaps the most challenging part is shooting at close to maximum heart rate, because you’ve got no hope of pulling the trigger between beats when your ticker is racing at three beats per second. Ideally, your heart rate will drop as you stop skiing and enter the range, but the pace is so fast there’s little chance of that happening.
“If you want to succeed in biathlon, you need to dedicate your entire attention to the sport, taking each day as an opportunity to improve. Self-discipline is the number one quality needed if you want to reach the top, training no matter what day it is.
“Mental strength is another must-have quality, as is self-belief – strength to keep going when it’s hard, in the belief that you can achieve great things. I have done 40km skates on Christmas morning.
“Trust in your coach is also vital to your success, as is having a great support system around you. Of course, you must also remember to enjoy and have fun with what you do. Find your smile through the bad days and the good. Biathlon is a rollercoaster.”
Modern Olympic biathlon includes relay races, individual events (15km for women, 20km for men), sprints (7.5km for women, 10km for men), pursuits (10km for women, 12.5km for men) and mass start races. Shooting position, standing or prone, is dictated by race format but many combine both. A miss results in a time penalty or an extra distance to ski. Exhausting!