Word: biathlon
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
NORDIC SKIING Four disciplines: cross-country skiing for men and women, jumping, Nordic combined and biathlon for men only. Cross-country: three individual races for men from 15 to 50 km.; two women's races, 5 and 10 km.; one relay race each for men and women. Jumping: staged on 70-and 90-meter hills; winners chosen for distance and form. Combined: separate competition requiring both jumping and skiing ability. Biathlon: 20-km. cross-country race in which competitors carry and fire rifles at targets along the way. Time penalties assessed for missed bull's-eyes...
...Biathlon, the Games' most eccentric sport, is surely the most demanding. Racers must push their bodies to the thresh old of fatigue, then steady to take dead aim at the four firing points along the trail. Particularly punishing are the 200-meterlong penalty loops that competitors in the relay race must run if they fail to break a target. It is all a far cry from the origins of the sport in Lapland, when dinner depended on a hunter's accuracy. Heikki Ikola of Finland could win the individual event; the Soviets and Finns will go head...