This was published 12 years ago
Sochi Winter Sports: Biathlon
Fast facts:
Biathlon combines the endurance of long distance cross-country skiing with the precision of target shooting and first appeared on the Olympic programme at the 1960 Winter Games in Squaw Valley.
Fast facts:
There will be 11 biathlon events in Sochi - men and women will each compete in sprint, pursuit, individual, mass start and relay events, before combining for the mixed relay.
Fast facts:
Competitors begin by skiing a loop of the course before stopping to fire rifles at five targets. They repeat this, changing their shooting position between standing and prone on each lap, until the race distance is completed, with time penalties imposed for missing targets.
New event:
The mixed relay will be held for the first time in Sochi, featuring teams of two men and two women. The women will open the relay, completing the first two legs - each 6km with two rounds of shooting. The men then complete the third and fourth legs, which are 7.5km each.
Venue:
The Laura Cross-country Ski & Biathlon Centre, located on the crest of the Psekhako Ridge, features two separate biathlon and cross-country stadiums, each with their own tracks and start and finish zones.
One to watch:
Norway's Tora Berger is the reigning women’s 15km individual Olympic champion and will be confident of claiming more golds in Sochi, having enjoyed a clean sweep of the overall, sprint, pursuit, individual and mass start World Cup titles in 2013.
