This sport has its origins in an exercise for Norwegian people, as an alternative training for the military. One of the world's first known ski clubs, the Trysil Rifle and Ski Club, was formed in Norway in 1861 to promote national defense at the local level. Called military patrol, the combination of skiing and shooting was contested at the Winter Olympic Games in 1924, and then demonstrated in 1928, 1936 and 1948, but did not regain Olympic recognition then, as the small number of competing countries disagreed on the rules. During the mid-1950s, however, biathlon was introduced into the Soviet 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. The first World Championship in biathlon was held in 1958 in Australia, and in 1960 the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games. At Albertville in 1992, women were first allowed in Olympic biathlon.

A biathlon competition consists of a race in which contestants ski around a cross-country trail system, and where the total distance is broken up by either two or four shooting rounds, half in prone position, the other half standing. Depending on the shooting performance, extra distance or time is added to the contestant's total running distance/time. As in most races, the contestant with the shortest total time wins. For each shooting round, the biathlete must hit five targets; each missed target must be "atoned for" in one of three ways, depending on the competition format: 1) by skiing around a 150-metre (490 ft) penalty loop, typically taking 20–30 seconds for top- level biathletes to complete (running time depending on weather/snow conditions) 2) by having one minute added to a skier's total time, or by having to use an "extra cartridge" (placed at the shooting range) to finish off the target; only three such "extras" are available for each round 3) a penalty loop must be made for each of the targets left standing. In order to keep track of the contestants' progress and relative standing throughout a race, Split times (intermediate times) are taken at several points along the skiing track and upon finishing each shooting round. The large display screens commonly set up at biathlon arenas, as well as the information graphics shown as part of the TV picture, will typically list the split time of the fastest contestant at each intermediate point and the times and time differences to the closest runners-up.

Skiing details All cross-country skiing techniques are permitted in biathlon, which means that the free technique is usually the preferred one, being the fastest. No equipment other than skis and ski poles may be used to move along the track. The rifle has to be carried by the skier during the race at all times. Shooting details The biathlete carries a small bore rifle, which weighs at least 3.5 kilograms, excluding ammunition and magazines. The rifles use.22LR ammunition and are bolt action or Fortner (straight-pull bolt) action. The target range shooting distance is 50 metres. There are five circular targets to be hit in each shooting round. When shooting in the prone position the target diameter is 45 millimetres; when shooting in the standing position the target diameter is 115 millimetres. On all modern biathlon ranges, the targets are self-indicating, in that they flip from black to white when hit, giving the biathlete as well as the spectators instant visual feedback for each shot fired.

Individual The 20 kilometres individual race for men, 15 kilometres for women, is the oldest biathlon event; the distance is skied over five laps. The biathlete shoots four times at any shooting lane, [ in the order of prone, standing, prone, standing, totaling 20 targets. For each missed target a fixed penalty time, usually one minute, is added to the skiing time of the biathlete. Competitors' starts are staggered, normally by 30 seconds. Sprint The sprint is 10 kilometres for men and 7.5 kilometres for women; the distance is skied over three laps. The biathlete shoots twice at any shooting lane, once prone and once standing, for a total of 10 shots. For each miss, a penalty loop of 150 metres must be skied before the race can be continued. As in the individual competition, the biathletes start in intervals. Pursuit In a pursuit, biathletes' starts are separated by their time differences from a previous race, most commonly a sprint. The contestant crossing the finish line first is the winner. The distance is 12.5 kilometres for men and 10 kilometres for women, skied over five laps; there are four shooting bouts (two prone, two standing, in that order), and each miss means a penalty loop of 150 metres. To prevent awkward and/or dangerous crowding of the skiing loops, and overcapacity at the shooting range, World Cup Pursuits are held with only the 60 top ranking biathletes after the preceding race. The biathletes shoot on a first-come, first- served basis at the lane corresponding to the position they arrived for all shooting bouts. Mass start In the mass start, all biathletes start at the same time and the first across the finish line wins. In this 15 kilometres for men or 12.5 kilometres for women competition, the distance is skied over five laps; there are four bouts of shooting (two prone, two standing, in that order) with the first shooting bout being at the lane corresponding to the competitor's bib number (Bib #10 shoots at lane #10 regardless of position in race), with the rest of the shooting bouts being on a first-come, first-served basis (If a competitor arrives at the lane in fifth place, they shoot at lane 5). As in sprint and pursuit, competitors must ski one 150 metrespenalty loop for each miss. Here again, to avoid unwanted congestion, World Cup Mass starts are held with only the 30 top ranking athletes on the start line (half that of the Pursuit as here all contestants start simultaneously).

Relay The relay teams consist of four biathletes, who each ski 7.5 kilometres (men) or 6 kilometres (women), each leg skied over three laps, with two shooting rounds; one prone, one standing. For every round of five targets there are eight bullets available, though the last three can only be single-loaded manually one at a time from spare round holders or bullets deposited by the competitor into trays or onto the mat at the firing line. If after eight bullets there are still misses, one 150 m penalty loop must be taken for each missed target remaining. The first-leg participants start all at the same time, and as in cross-country skiing relays, every athlete of a team must touch the team's next-leg participant to perform a valid changeover. On the first shooting stage of the first leg, the participant must shoot in the lane corresponding to their bib number (Bib #10 shoots at lane #10 regardless of position in race), then for the remainder of the relay, the relay team shoots on a first-come, first-served basis (arrive at the range in fifth place, shoot at lane 5). Mixed relay The most recent addition to the number of biathlon competition variants, the mixed relay is similar to the ordinary relay but the teams are composed of two women and two men. Legs 1 and 2 are done by the women, legs 3 and 4 by the men. The women's legs are 6 kilometres and men's legs are 7.5 kilometres as in ordinary relay competitions. Team (obsolete) A team consists of four biathletes, but unlike the relay competition, all team members start at the same time. Two athletes must shoot in the prone shooting round, the other two in the standing round. In case of a miss, the two non-shooting biathletes must ski a penalty loop of 150 m. The skiers must enter the shooting area together, and must also finish within 15 seconds of each other; otherwise a time penalty of one minute is added to the total time. Since 2004, this race format has been obsolete at the World Cup level. Source Wikipedia

Heikki Ikola ( ) Medal record Competitor for FinlandFinland Men’s biathlonbiathlon Olympic Games Silver1972 SapporoRelay Silver 1976 Innsbruck 20 km Silver 1976 Innsbruck Relay World championship Gold1981 Lahti 20 km individual Gold 1977 Lillehammer 20 km individual Gold 1975 Antholz- Anterselva 4 x 7.5 km relay Gold 1975 Antholz- Anterselva 20 km individual Silver 1979 Ruhpolding 4 x 7.5 km relay Silver 1977 Lillehammer 4 x 7.5 km relay Silver1974 Minsk 4 x 7.5 km relay

Kaisa-Leena Mäkäräinen ( ) Women's biathlonbiathlon Competitor for FinlandFinland World Championships Gold 2011 Khanty- Mansiysk 10 km pursuit Silver 2011 Khanty- Mansiysk 7.5 km sprint Bronze 2012 Ruhpolding Mass start Medal record[hide][hide]

IBU World Championships Biathlon 2015 will take place in Kontiolahti in March 3-15, Kontiolahti has had the pleasure of hosting the event once before, in More detailed information will be updated in coming months, but at this point we welcome all teams, spectators and media representatives to Kontiolahti also 2015 to enjoy this unforgettable event in spirit of Joy of Biathlon!