"To the layperson, biathlon may be the strangest sport in the Winter Olympics. Most of the sports in the Games involve athletes testing the limits of the human body vis-á-vis gravity (e.g.: big air, ski jumping), sliding (curling, speedskating), or gravity and sliding (figure skating), emphasizing in the process the wintry specificity of it all. Say what you want about curling -and I will: It's fine!-but you cannot dispute that it is a game that takes place on ice."
"A brief note on the history of biathlon: It is the modern evolution of the military patrol event (scratch anything at the Olympics hard enough and you'll see the muscular nationalism beneath), wherein teams of skiers would ski some distance to a range, shoot some targets, then ski away. Switzerland won gold at the 1924 Olympics in Chamonix, and while the event was held thrice more, it was only as a demonstration sport."
Biathlon pairs cross-country skiing with rifle shooting, creating an unusual Winter Olympic event that mixes intense physical demand and quiet marksmanship. The sport evolved from military patrol competitions, where ski teams skied to ranges, fired at targets, and skied away; Switzerland won gold in 1924, and the modern biathlon was reintroduced at the 1960 Lake Tahoe Olympics, with additional individual and team events added over subsequent decades. Soviets, Germans, and Norwegians dominated for decades. Excellence in biathlon requires balance between exertive skiing and meditative shooting. Julia Simon exemplifies that balance, with ten World Championship golds, a 2022 Olympic mixed-relay silver, and multiple World Cup victories.
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