There is actually a logical explanation for why there is an Olympic sport that combines cross-country skiing and guns

Olympics biathlonQuinn Rooney/Getty Images

  • Every four years, there is one Winter Olympics sport that raises the most eyebrows — biathlon.
  • While most multi-discipline sports are meant to test overall athletic prowess (e.g. decathlon, triathlon), biathlon combines the endurance of cross-country skiing with shooting rifles at a target.
  • The sport actually has a logical explanation that traces back to hunting and military skills found in northern European countries.

Every four years, there is one Winter Olympics sport that raises the most eyebrows — biathlon, a sport which combines cross-country skiing with rifle shooting.

Most multi-discipline sports are meant to simply test overall athletic prowess (e.g. decathlon, triathlon). But biathlon is different in that involves skiing long distances with occasional stops to shoot at targets. If a competitor misses a target, they are then required to ski a 150-meter penalty loop.

See the rest of the story at Business Insider

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Post Author: martin

Martin is an enthusiastic programmer, a webdeveloper and a young entrepreneur. He is intereted into computers for a long time. In the age of 10 he has programmed his first website and since then he has been working on web technologies until now. He is the Founder and Editor-in-Chief of BriefNews.eu and PCHealthBoost.info Online Magazines. His colleagues appreciate him as a passionate workhorse, a fan of new technologies, an eternal optimist and a dreamer, but especially the soul of the team for whom he can do anything in the world.

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