Jake at the Soldier Hollow World Cup earlier this winter.

Editor: Craftsbury Biathlete Jake Brown wrote this up for a sponsor partnership and it seemed posting here would be a great option as well. Especially as we all follow the 2019 BMW IBU Biathlon World Championships from Oestersund, Sweden.

At the essence ofevery biathlon race is a singular challenge for the athlete: that ofsteadying the mind and body amid the most difficult physicalconditions in order to shoot five targets with a competition rifle.No matter the race format, when an athlete enters the range he or shemust calm the mind and focus on closing the five targets which standfifty meters downrange. While shooting accurately and skiing fast isalways important, some race formats place greater value on ski speed,while others emphasize accuracy, and still others stress shootingspeed. Each race format is different in its own way and uniquelychallenges the mind.

The following arethe seven competition formats contested on the International BiathlonUnion (IBU) World Cup:

INDIVIDUAL

About the Individual:

The most traditionalof the biathlon events, the Individual format is the longest of thebiathlon races: a 15k competition for women and a 20k competition formen. Athletes ski five equidistant loops and enter the range to shootfive shots at the end of each of the first four loops. The Individualis not merely unique because of its length. Instead of skiing a 150mpenalty loop for each miss as is common in most of the other formats,a one-minute time-penalty for each miss is added to an athlete'sfinishing time. As penalty laps usually take no longer than thirtyseconds, the Individual places a greater emphasis on shootingaccuracy than do the other formats. The Individual is also the onlyfour-stage race that alternates prone and standing positions: afterthe first and third loops the athlete must shoot in the prone, orlaying, position, and after the second and fourth loops, the athletemust shoot in the standing position.

The Mental Game:

Because theIndividual arguably places the greatest importance on shootingaccuracy of all biathlon events, it is often called "a shooter'srace". A better moniker may in fact be "a mental race".The threat of a 1-minute penalty makes each of the twenty shotsextremely important, and with added importance comes added pressure.It is therefore essential to have a strong mental approach toshooting in such an event. For some athletes, this means focusing onone specific aspect of the shooting process. For instance, alwaysremembering to squeeze the trigger slowly, or to breatheconsistently. For others, this means finding a distraction from thepressure. If you tend to let your own thinking get in your way tosuccess, try singing "Row, row, row your boat" in your headand let muscle memory do the rest. Some lucky athletes may not feelthe pressure as much and can successfully focus on each shotindividually, alone from all the others, and without distraction.

The truth is, youhave to try and find what mental process works best for you. Aboveall else, you cannot be afraid to succeed. It often takes a risk tobe successful. So go for it.

SPRINT

About the Sprint:

The Sprint is theshortest individual event contested in international biathloncompetition, at 7.5k for women and 10k for men. The name isdeceiving: this is still quite an endurance event! Like theIndividual, the Sprint is contested in time trail format withathletes starting in thirty-second intervals. The Sprint is unique,however, as there are only two shooting stages: one prone, and onestanding. Again, athletes shoot at five targets for each shootingstage, which appear in a row of five small black dots downrange. Asin all biathlon races, when a target is hit a white paddle flips upto cover the black target, so that after the shooting is completedthe athlete can see exactly how many missed targets he has. This isimportant in the Sprint because, unlike the Individual, athletes mustski a 150m penalty loop for each missed target. The goal, of course,is to leave the range with a "clean" target, with all fiveblack targets flipped to white.

The Mental Game:

Because there areonly two shooting stages, ski speed is especially important in theSprint. Faster athletes may be able to make up for a miss or two bygaining time on the course. And because the Sprint is in a time-trailformat and there is always the possibility that an athlete startingnear the back can knock off another's top time, athletes must pushthe pace from start to finish. To have a chance for the podium, it isimportant to have a strong fighting spirit on the course, especiallyon the final loop. Don't let that fool you, though; at the World Cuplevel, shooting accurately is still incredibly important. Because thepace is faster during the shorter Sprint event and the skiing is moreaggressive, it's especially vital to be able to calm the body andmind when entering the shooting range. Some coaches refer to thistransition from skier to shooter as "the cut," where themental approach changes from an aggressive, spirited fighter to acool, confident cat. Learn to make this switch consistent by choosinga place or object that you always look at before shooting thattriggers "the cut" in your own mind, and start by takingdeep breaths from the diaphragm and reciting a cue-word to yourself."Calm" may be a good one to start with. Regardless of theexact word or process, find a "cut" that helps you flip theswitch from frenzied skier to steady shooter.

PURSUIT

About the Pursuit:

The Pursuit isunlike any other competition format in that its start order iscontingent on the results of the previous Sprint competition. Howdoes this work? Well, say biathlete A wins the Sprint, finishing 12seconds ahead biathlete B and 26 seconds ahead of biathlete C. Forthe Pursuit competition, biathlete A will be the first starter withbiathlete B starting 12 seconds behind and biathlete C starting 26seconds back. The first of the athletes to cross the finish line isthe winner. So by performing well in the Sprint, an athlete isrewarded with not only a great result in one race, but also anexcellent starting position for a second. The Pursuit is like theIndividual in that it is a race with five skiing loops (but slightlyshorter at 2k each for women and 2.5k each for men for a total of 10and 12.5k, respectively) and four shooting stages. It is like theSprint in that for each missed target an athlete must ski once aroundthe 150m penalty loop before continuing on the course.

The Mental Game:

With the winner ofthe Sprint out front, all Pursuit racers must have a hunter'smindset. In fact, the Norwegian word for the Pursuit competition isJaktstart­ - literally, hunt-start. And with four shootingstages, much of the hunting is done in the range. It may help toenter the range with the tactically assertive mindset of a hunter.Worrying about being caught from behind is a fearful mindset thatdoes no good in a pressure situation such as shooting; the bestathletes focus instead on pursuing what is in front of them, whethera target downrange or an athlete further up the track.

MASS START

About the Mass Start:

The Mass Start iswhat it sounds like: a race in which all athletes begin at the sametime and the first to cross the finish line is the champion. The MassStart is a four-shooting stage race and at 12.5k for women and 15kfor men is slightly longer than the Pursuit. Like the Pursuit, theorder of the four shooting stages is prone after the first lap, thenprone again after the second, followed by standing stages after boththe third and fourth laps. Athletes must ski a 150m penalty loop foreach missed target before continuing onto the race loop.

The Mental Game:

Unlike the Sprint orthe Individual, the Pursuit and Mass Start events result in manyathletes shooting on the range simultaneously. Each athlete is justone in a line of shooters. In such a setting it can be tempting totake a peek at a competitor's target or allow your ear to listen forthe *klack* of an errant miss by an athlete to your left or right. Anexperienced biathlete, however, is trained to focus only on her owntarget. Think of it as a tunnel: once your head rests on thecheek-piece and your eye looks through the peep-sight, the tunnel ofvision you now see becomes your entire world. This new world of fiveblack dots popping from a white background is, right now, the onlything worthy of your attention.

RELAY

About the Relay:

The biathlon relayis contested by teams of four athletes of the same gender. Eachathlete races a mini-sprint (6k for women and 7.5k for men with oneprone-shooting stage and one standing-shooting stage) before taggingoff to teammate, or, in the case of the anchor leg athlete, fightingto the finish line. The relay is contested in a mass-start format,with all teams' first leg athlete beginning simultaneously at thecrack of the starter's pistol. Unique to relays are spare rounds:each athlete carries a total of six extra rounds on his or her riflestock. After shooting the five bullets from the magazine, an athletemust attempt to hit any missed target(s) by using up to three ofthese "spares." For example, if an athlete misses hersecond shot but hits the other four, she must hand-load a spare roundinto the chamber and fire at the missed target. Hopefully she hits,but if she misses, she'll need to load another spare. And so on. Ifafter using three spares the athlete has not yet cleaned the targetand black dots still remain, she must ski one 150m penalty loop foreach target left black before continuing out on course.

The Mental Game:

For the relay, theaddition of spare rounds lessens the consequence of a missed shot.For an experienced biathlete, loading a spare will usually takebetween seven and ten seconds, much less that the twenty-plus secondsit takes to round the penalty loop (not to mention avoiding theeffort required to ski the added penalty loop distance). With sparerounds available, much of the pressure of a threatening penalty loopis lifted, which allows an athlete to shoot slightly faster. However,the script flips when an athlete gets down to what are commonlyreferred to as"pressure spares," that is, when the numberof spares remaining match the number of targets remaining. Forexample if an athlete misses three shots straight from the magazine,he will already be using his pressure spares. A miss with the firstpressure spare and it means at least one penalty loop in his future.These are situations where one shot can result in podium or failurefor an entire relay team are some of the most pressure-filled momentsin all of biathlon. To take on the pressure it once again it may behelpful to focus on the fundamentals. Breathe deeply, aim at thecenter of the target, have a slow trigger squeeze, and see the targetclose - a hit.

MIXED RELAY

About the Mixed Relay:

The Mixed Relay isidentical to the Relay except that teams consist of two women and twomen, as opposed to four same-gender athletes. Although the IBU hasvaried the relay order on occasion, the most common Mixed Relay orderbegins with the women (each of whom race 6k) and finishes with themen (who race 7.5k). As in the relay, each athlete shoots one pronestage and one standing stage and may use up to three spare rounds perstage to clear the targets. A 150m penalty loop must be skied for anyremaining target left black.

The Mental Game:

As in the Relay, theMixed Relay is a long race with lots of movement up and down thestandings. Some teams may put their fastest athletes first whileothers may put their fastest athletes last. Furthermore, teams mayconsist of athletes with a range of experience and abilities. Add inthe volatility of shooting and you have a race where no lead is safe.Even if you are the second leg and are behind by two minutes, gainingone minute may be enough for the third and fourth-leg skiers to closethe gap on the leaders. Teams can come from minutes behind to reachthe podium; therefore it is important for athletes to remember tostay focused on performing their best, not on how far ahead orbehind they may be.

SINGLE MIXEDRELAY

About the Single Mixed Relay:

The Single MixedRelay is the newest of the IBU events and first appeared on the IBUWorld Cup in 2017 and at the IBU World Championships in 2019. Theevent is contested over eight total shooting stages and 13.5k byteams of one female athlete and one male athlete. Like the MixedRelay, the start order may be varied. The first starter skis a 1.5kloop, shoots prone (with three relay rounds available), skis anyrequired penalty loops at a shortened distance of 75m apiece, skisanother 1.5k loop, shoots standing (again with three sparesavailable), skis any necessary penalty loops, and then immediatelytakes his or her teammate. The second athlete does the exact samepattern of skiing and shooting and tags the first athlete after theirstanding stage. Once again the first athlete goes back out on course,skiing the 1.5k loop twice and shooting prone and standing after eachloop in the same manner as before. Finally the second starter skisthe anchor leg. Instead of finishing immediately after the standingstage, he or she races a final 1.5k loop to the finish. In this waythe second athlete races a total of 7.5k while the first races atotal of 6k.

The Mental Game:

With such brief raceloops, many shooting stages, availability of spare rounds, and halvedpenalty loops, the Single Mixed Relay highlights the world'sfastest-shooting biathletes. To excel in the Single Mixed requires aneed for speed: it is essential to practice fast and controlledshooting if an athlete desires to be successful in such an event. Todo so it helps to minimize unnecessary movements. Focus on keepingthe barrel stable while re-bolting: a biathlete should be able tore-bolt and keep the sights motionless. This allows him or her tominimize the movement required to align the sights with the nexttarget, thus saving time.

In whichever raceformat you compete, ski fast, shoot the center, and enjoy thechallenge of biathlon!