06 Biathlon : HID Betfair Education http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/ Biathlon is one of the most popular winter sports, and probably the number one winter sport for betting. It is the winter sport with the fastest growing audiences and TV viewers. Top athletes come from Europe, North America and Asia. With the combination of skiing and shooting, the result can be in the balance until the very end of the race, as a missed target in one of the last shots or declining speed in the finishing stages of the cross-country section can lose an athlete several places in the race. en Copyright 2009 Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:25:56 +0000 http://www.sixapart.com/movabletype/ http://www.rssboard.org/rss-specification Introduction Biathlon is a sporting event made up of two disciplines; cross-country skiing and rifle shooting. A biathlon competition consists of a race in which contestants ski around a cross-country track, with the total distance is broken up by either two or four shooting rounds, half in prone position (laying down), the other half standing. The target distance is 50 metres, and there are five targets in each shooting round. Missing targets means extra distance or time is added to the contestant's total running distance/time. As in most races, the contestant with the shortest total time wins.

]]> http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/introduction-2-250308.html http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/introduction-2-250308.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:25:56 +0000 Competitions/Markets The biathlon season lasts from November until mid-March. World Cup races make up much of the schedule, where the biathlete with the most points awarded during a season is the overall winner.

The Olympic Games has four biathlon competitions for each sex. Sprint, Individual, Pursuit and Relay.

World Championships are staged each year, with six competitions; five for each sex plus the Mixed Relay.

]]> http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/competitionsmarkets-250308.html http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/competitionsmarkets-250308.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:17:47 +0000 What to look for There are two skills you need to be a successful biathlete: fast cross-country skiing and precise shooting.

]]> http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/what-to-look-for-250308.html http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/what-to-look-for-250308.html Tue, 25 Mar 2008 11:15:12 +0000 Who are the big names to look out for? Ole Einar Bjørndalen is the biggest name in biathlon. At the 2002 Winter Olympics, he won four gold medals, becoming the first biathlete to win all singles races at one Olympics, and only the third winter athlete to win four golds at one Games. With over 75 World Cup race wins to date, he is the Tiger Woods of biathlon.

]]> http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/who-are-the-big-names-to-look-out-for-190308.html http://betting.betfair.com/education/sports/biathlon/who-are-the-big-names-to-look-out-for-190308.html Wed, 19 Mar 2008 17:18:15 +0000