Winter Olympic Games

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Winter Olympic Sports: Biathlon

• The Winter Olympic sport of Biathlon is a discipline which combines both cross-country skiing and target shooting.

• The sport was first developed as a training exercise for Norwegian soldiers - the first competition was held in 1767.

• The cross country skiing component covers a distance of 7-20km depending on the variant of the biathlon contest.

• In the shooting component, .22 calibre rifles are used at a range of 50 metres at targets of 115mm when standing and 45mm when prone.