Biathlon

By Deonte Hyman

preview

Following the 2006 Olympic Winter Games, US Biathlon received increased funding from the United States Olympic Committee, allowing the organization to hire world-class high performance and coaching staffs and get on track to win its first Olympic medal. Nearly four years later, Tim Burke led the overall World Cup standings for several weeks, demonstrating the program was on the right track. However, at the Vancouver Games, Team USA did not make the podium, and only had one top-10 finish. Now, with four different athletes having already secured top-six World Cup finishes this season, the U.S. biathlon team has never been better positioned for success in Olympic competition. Burke ended 2012 with another trip to the podium and a No. 6 world ranking. The biathlon competition in Sochi will feature five different events, including the individual, sprint, pursuit, mass start and relay competitions. The individual competition is the classic biathlon race, covering 20 kilometers for men and 15 kilometers for women, with four shooting lanes in each discipline. The first and third shooting stages are taken from the prone position, while the second and fourth are fired standing. The sprint is an abbreviated version of the individual event, in which men race 10K and women race 7.5K, each shooting two rounds one prone and one standing. In the pursuit competition, athletes start in a staggered fashion depending on their time in the sprint race. One of the newest formats, the mass start competition covers 15K for men and 12K for women, with four shooting stages. In each race, the 30 highest-ranked athletes start simultaneously and take their place at the first shooting stage depending on their starting number. Finally, the relay consists of four-person teams covering distances of 7.5K for men and 6K for women. Each leg of the race includes two shooting stages one prone and one standing. Once an athlete has fired all eight rounds of their ammunition, they must ski a 150-meter penalty loop for each missed target. A world-class cross country ski and biathlon center is being built for the Sochi Games. Situated to the northwest of the Rosa Khutor Alpine Center, the facility includes a 9,600-seat stadium, courses, a shooting range and a warm-up area. After the Games, the center will serve as a training center and venue for large international competitions.

qualifications

Selection process

Location and name of the stadium`

Sochi, Russia Laura Cross-country Ski & Biathlon Center
Feb. 6-17 Feb. 27-March 3 March 3-10 IBU World Championships E. ON IBU World Cup U.S. National Championships E. ON IBU World Cup Nove Mesto, Bratislava Oslo, Norway Fort Kent, Maine

March 4- 10
March 11-17 March 17 OctoberDecember

Sochi, Russia KhantyMansiysk, Russia

E. ON IBU World Cup

Olympic Team nominations World Cup Team qualifying races Final Olympic Team nominations

Jan. 13

Stadium

Dates and places

November 23, 2013 March 20, 2014 November 23, 2013 March 16, 2014 IBU WORLD AND CONTINENTAL CUP CALENDAR NORAM CUP AND CHAMPIONSHIPS CALENDAR TRY BIATHLON EVENTS CALENDAR SOCHI 2014 WINTER OLYMPIC GAMES Sochi, Russia WORLD JR CHAMPIONSHIPS Presque Isle, Maine, United States of America

January 01, 2014 March 31, 2014

February 07, 2014 February 23, 2014

February 25, 2014 March 08, 2014

March 09, 2014 March 12, 2014

US BIATHLON TEAM JUNIOR DEVELOPMENT CAMP FOR XC SKIERS Jericho, Vermont CANADIAN CHAMPIONSHIPS Charlo, New Brunswick, Canada US NATIONALS Jericho, Vermont BIATHLON MASTERS INTERNATIONAL CHAMPIONSHIPS Kontiolahti, Finland

March 11, 2014 March 16, 2014 March 12, 2014 March 16, 2014 March 27, 2014 March 30, 2014

Ticket prices

Price Category A B C

Description Grandstand Assigned Seating Grandstand Standing General admission Standing General admission

Price (RUB) 6,500 3,500 1,500

Number of Tickets Not available Not available Not available

Strongest and weakest countries

Favorite athletes and country they represent

Country who won the most medals

1 2 FRA NOR Gold 2 Silver 1 0 Bronze 1 1 All 0 3 2

=3
=3 =5 =5

BLR
SVK CZE RUS

1
1 0 0

0
0 1 1

0
0 1 1

1
1 2 2

=7
=7 =9 =9

AUT
GER SLO UKR

0
0 0 0

1
1 0 0

0
0 1 1

1
1 1 1

Gold medal winner

Martin Fourcade Won 2 Gold medals

Silver medals
none

Bronze medal winner

Jean Guillaume Beatrix Coline Mattel

Sponsorships or corporate sponsorship