Several Olympic sports lay claim to being the toughest.
The technicality of speed skating,
the skill of figure skating,
the bravery of ski jumping.
But there are few sports on the planet that are as notoriously
tough as the dreaded biathlon.
(BURNING QUESTIONS - WHAT IS THE TOUGHEST OLYMPIC SPORT?)
Combining gruelling cross-country skiing
with shooting -
No, it's not a scene from The Revenant,
nor is it for the faint hearted, quite literally.
It requires the athlete to be immune to the freezing cold,
have perfect langlauf, cross-country skiing technique,
the deadeye accuracy of a sniper,
and a zen-like ability to control his own heart rate.
The seemingly unlikely pairing of skiing and shooting
has been a Winter Olympic staple since 1960.
But it might not surprise you to learn that
before it was a sport, it was a Scandinavian survival skill.
For this reason, it has long been used as a training
exercise for soldiers.
In fact, the first known biathlon competition
took place in 1767, when two Norwegian border control
companies faced off against each other.
Roll the tape.
What? Why haven't we got any footage?
Yeah, to be fair, that does make sense, yeah.
When it made its Winter Olympic debut in 1924,
it was actually called military patrol.
So how does it work?
Biathletes strap a 22-calibre rifle to their backs
and race around a trail.
They must make a series of stops to shoot
at a line of five metal targets 50 metres away
from either a standing or a prone position.
Each missed shot accrues a time penalty.
So hitting all the targets is a must.
If you think the skiing part sounds tough,
imagine shooting accurately
whilst on the verge of fainting.
Most competitors spend less than 20 seconds at the range
during a race,
usually only taking a breath and a half between shots.
But it's a delicate balance.
Keep it in too long,
and oxygen deprivation causes blurred vision.
Let it out, and you waste valuable fractions
of seconds resetting.
Not only that, but the athletes have
to remember to flex the large muscles in their legs
or abdomen while they're lying on the mat
to prevent blood from pooling.
Otherwise, they would be at risk of fainting.
I'd just love to have those muscles, let alone flex them.
Now factor in the pounding of a fully exerted
cardiovascular system.
When gliding into the shooting range,
their heart rates can reach 180 beats per minute.
It sounds like a lot, but how does it measure up?
The average human has a resting heart rate
of between 80 and 100 beats per minute.
A road cyclist will often experience a heart rate
of 140 beats per minute.
A swimmer may experience 165 beats per minute,
as all major muscles are being used just to stay above water.
To give you a sense of how fast that is,
Flight of the Bumblebee is played at 172 beats per minute.
I'm out.
Can I get a water?
When your heart is going all guns blazing like this,
even the pulse throbbing in your fingertips
can cause microscopic flinching.
Invisible to spectators,
this can nevertheless affect accuracy.
To compensate for hearing and feeling your own blood rushing
around your body, biathletes often spend hours each week
with a sports psychologist
to learn to keep a clear head
to compensate for a trembling hand.
I'm not surprised.
So how do athletes train for this,
the most James Bond of Olympic disciplines?
Unsurprisingly, by skiing for miles and miles a day.
And if there's no snow, there's no excuse.
They use roller skates instead.
The regime is so gruelling
that they have to eat 5,000 calories a day.
That's twice the normal recommended daily intake.
Is it?
Really?
I mean, that explains a lot.
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