The biathlon, an Olympic sporting discipline that combines cross-country skiing with rifle marksmanship, entails considerable physiological demands, as well as fine motor control while shooting after intense exercise and under mental pressure. Although much of our knowledge about cross-country skiing is probably also applicable to the biathlon, carrying the rifle and shooting under stress make this discipline somewhat unique. The present review summarizes and examines the scientific literature related to biathlon performance, with a focus on physiological and biomechanical factors and shooting technique, as well as psychophysiological aspects of shooting performance. We conclude with suggestions for future research designed to extend our knowledge about the biathlon, which is presently quite limited.

The biathlon, combining cross-country ski skating with rifle marksmanship, has been an Olympic event since the Winter Games in Squaw Valley, United States, in 1960. As a consequence of replacing the classical with the skating technique in the 1980s, as well as considerable improvements in equipment and preparation of ski tracks and more effective training, the average biathlon skiing speed has increased substantially. Moreover, the mass-start, pursuit, and sprint races have been introduced. Indeed, two of the four current individual Olympic biathlon competitions involve mass-starts, where tactics play a major role and the outcome is often decided during the last round of shooting or final sprint. Biathlon is a demanding endurance sport requiring extensive aerobic capacity. The wide range of speeds and slopes involved requires biathletes to alternate continuously between and adapt different skating sub-techniques during races, a technical complexity that places a premium on efficiency. Although the relative amounts of endurance training at different levels of intensity have remained essentially constant during recent decades, today’s biathletes perform more specific endurance training on roller skis on terrain similar to that used for competition, with more focus on the upper-body, systematic strength and power training and skiing at higher speeds. Success in the biathlon also requires accurate and rapid shooting while simultaneously recovering from high-intensity skiing. Many different factors, including body sway, triggering behavior, and even psychology, influence the shooting performance. Thus, the complexity of biathlon deserves a greater research focus on areas such as race tactics, skating techniques, or shooting process.

Because of technical challenges very little is known about absolute myocardial perfusion in humans in vivo during physical exercise. In the present study we applied positron emission tomography (PET) in order to 1) investigate the effects of dynamic bicycle exercise on myocardial perfusion and 2) clarify the possible effects of endurance training on myocardial perfusion during exercise. Myocardial perfusion was measured in endurance-trained and healthy untrained subjects at rest and during absolutely the same (150 W) and relatively similar [70% maximal power output ( W_max)] bicycle exercise intensities. On average, the absolute myocardial perfusion was 3.4-fold higher during 150 W ( P < 0.001) and 4.9-fold higher during 70% W_max( P < 0.001) than at rest. At 150 W myocardial perfusion was 46% lower in endurance-trained than in untrained subjects (1.67 ± 0.45 vs. 3.00 ± 0.75 ml·g⁻¹·min⁻¹; P < 0.05), whereas during 70% W_maxperfusion was not significantly different between groups ( P = not significant). When myocardial perfusion was normalized with rate-pressure product, the results were similar. Thus, according to the present results, myocardial perfusion increases in parallel with the increase in working intensity and in myocardial work rate. Endurance training seems to affect myocardial blood flow pattern during submaximal exercise and leads to more efficient myocardial pump function.

Air pistol shooting is a complex sport discipline with high demands on fine motor control and postural stability. Earlier studies have reported questionable results regarding the most important technical components for air pistol shooting. Therefore, the aims of the present study were to investigate the key technical components for air pistol shooting and also to investigate how well the key technical components explain the performance in air pistol shooting. Eighteen national-level air pistol shooters completed a simulated qualifying round consisting of 60 shots. During each shot, shooting score and 17 aiming point trajectory variables were measured with an optoelectronic training device. Principal component analysis revealed five key technical components: aiming time, stability of hold, aiming accuracy, cleanness of triggering and timing of triggering. Four of the five components (not aiming time) correlated significantly (r = .48 – .74; p < 0.05) with shooting score. Two stepwise multiple regression analyses identified aiming accuracy followed by timing of triggering and stability of hold as the most important components, accounting for 75–78% of the variance in shooting score. Accordingly, these components should be in focus by coaches and athletes when conducting tests and training.

Skiing in biathlon is a high-intensity, intermittent endurance discipline. This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between laboratory-derived physiological variables and skiing performance during a field-based biathlon competition (BC) for female and male biathletes. Fourteen female (23 ± 3 year, $\dot{V}$O_2max 56 ± 4 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) and 14 male (24 ± 4 year, $\dot{V}$O_2max 66 ± 3 mL·kg⁻¹·min⁻¹) biathletes performed a submaximal incremental test and a maximal time-trial (TT) using treadmill roller-skiing for the assessment of oxygen uptake at a lactate threshold of 4 mmol·L⁻¹ ($\dot{V}$O_2@4mmol), gross efficiency (GE), aerobic (MR_ae) and anaerobic (MR_an) metabolic rates, peak oxygen consumption ($\dot{V}$O_2peak), anaerobic capacity and TT performance. Field-based skiing performance was assessed during a BC. The TT and BC skiing performances were significantly correlated in both sexes (r = 0.68–0.69, p < 0.01). $\dot{V}$O_2peak (31/21%), anaerobic capacity (1/0%), and GE (35/32%) explained 67 and 52% of the variance in BC skiing performance for the females (p < 0.01) and males (p = 0.051), respectively. A second model showed that $\dot{V}$O_2@4mmol (30/35%), anaerobic capacity (0/0%) and GE (37/13%) explained 67 and 48% of the variance in BC skiing performance for the females (p < 0.01) and males (p = 0.077), respectively. Results of this study suggest that a high $\dot{V}$O_2@4mmol and GE, but not anaerobic capacity, are important for BC skiing performance, especially for females. In addition, a laboratory-based TT could be useful for regular laboratory testing of biathletes due to its relationship with field-based skiing performance in biathlon.