Shooting Featured in Olympic Biathlon Competition
The winter Olympics in Sochi, Russia is not just about skiing, skating, sledding, and snowboarding. It’s also about shooting. The Biathlon competition, conducted over the course of 15 days, combines Nordic skiing with position rimfire shooting. It’s a challenging sport, requiring world-class fitness along with superior marksmanship skills.
“This year, the two favorites for gold are Martin Fourcade of France for the men and Tora Berger of Norway for the women. However, they still have stiff competition. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen of Norway, nicknamed ‘The Cannibal,’ has already won 11 Olympic medals in the biathlon, 6 of which were gold. Russian competitors Anton Shipulin, Eygeny Ustyugoy, and Olga Zaitseva could enjoy a distinct home advantage. Overall, Norway is expected to take the medal lead in biathlon, with Russia and Germany as their toughest competitors.” — Chelsea Smith for WideOpenSpaces.com.
Biathlon is a hugely popular sport in Northern and Eastern Europe. Athletes from Norway, Germany, and Russia have dominated, winning over two-thirds of Olympic biathlon medals. WideOpenSpaces.com has an excellent overview of the Olympic biathlon events and the U.S. biathletes that will be competing. CLICK HERE to read more.
Fun to watch the Biathlon shooting!! Men’s 10km sprint – Gold, Silver, and Bronze medal winners were all using Lapua ammunition!!
Really enjoyed the 10k sprint yesterday. To bad Tim Burke, USA, missed that one late off-hand shot. Interesting, the Biathlon is the only winter Olympic event the US has never won a Gold in.
Today’s results in Women’s Sprint 7.5 km:
Gold Medal – Anastasiya KUZMINA – Slovakia
Silver Medal – Olga VILUKHINA – Russia
Bronze Medal – Vita SEMERENKO – Ukraine
All were using Lapua Rimfire Ammunition!!