Biathlon is a cruel sport, especially the individual distance

Soft afternoon light falls over the Zhangjiakou National Biathlon Center, in the mountains northwest of Beijing. At a temperature of -7 degrees Celsius it is a lot better to endure than in recent days, when it regularly got so cold that the Swedes – quite used to it – asked if their match would please a little earlier in the day. could take place. They were unlucky. From -20, the ski federation FIS can cancel everything. Now only the perceived temperature was far below that. The wind made a sport that already demands the utmost from a body, even more extreme.

But compared to that, it looks like spring on this day. Conditions are ideal for the 20km men’s biathlon – cross-country skiing and shooting. Just before half past four, the first of 92 participants start to take off their outerwear. They move one by one to the starting line, where they start as if in a time trial accompanied by a beep. Maxim Tsvetkov from Russia is the first to compete for Olympic gold. After him, his competitors leave every thirty seconds.

The complete program of the Winter Olympics

It is a maximum effort from the start. Twenty kilometers sounds long, but cross-country skiers of this caliber only need forty-five minutes, even though the course is constantly going up and down. There are climbs of 29 percent. The biathletes have to climb almost 700 meters in five laps. In the descents they can recover for a while. The competition takes place at an altitude of 1,700 meters. That makes it extra heavy. The air is thinner, drier. It soon seems as if your breath is being taken away.

As Tsvetkov passes the press stand, overlooking the firing range and the Olympic ski jumps in the background, his sticks grab the snow with every stroke – the sound of tjak, tjak, in even intervals. His face is relaxed, not yet scarred by the pain. Soon that will change.

Mental component

All muscle groups tense during cross-country skiing, no fiber gets rest. The arms are needed to propel the body through the sticks, just like the trunk, the abdominal muscles. And the legs make the steps that are reminiscent of the ice skate. Cross-country skiing is considered one of the toughest sports in the world. And with the biathlon there is also a mental component.

Because after every round there must also be shot, with a four-kilo rifle carried on the back all the time. Twice lying and twice standing, from 50 meters on a target 11 centimeters in diameter. Shoot with military precision while your body screams murder. That’s like putting a thread through a needle right after going up a flight of stairs ten times. It demands the utmost of your concentration. A millimeter can mean the difference between gold and nothing.

Shortly after Tsvetkov, Norwegian Johannes Thingnes Boe started, the reigning Olympic champion. On Sunday he took his first gold at these Games with Norway, in the mixed relay. The Norwegians have always had strong biathletes. Ole Einar Bjoerndalen and Marit Bjorgen are the two most successful winter Olympians ever. That’s where the sport comes from. As early as the nineteenth century, Norwegian soldiers took part in biathlon.

But for the past decade, one Frenchman has dominated. Martin Fourcade has won five golds in four Winter Games. All the while, a younger compatriot from the Jura stood in his shadow. Quentin Fillon Maillet, 29, had a hard time with that at times, because he had so much respect for Fourcade that he could be intimidated by it. But since Fourcade stopped two years ago and ‘QFR’ was given free rein, that fear faded into the background. He came to Beijing as the world cup leader. But that was no guarantee.

Because biathlon is a cruel sport, especially the individual distance. In addition to 20 kilometers (15 for the women) for the fastest cross-country skiing, the biathlete also has to be flawless four times five shots. Each miss gives him a one minute time penalty. He can go as fast on the course, if he starts to make shooting mistakes because he is no longer able to keep the body motionless due to fatigue, then he has no chance. In other biathlon disciplines – the sprint, pursuit, relay – it is allowed to reload after a miss, and then a penalty lap of 150 meters must be cross-country. Shooting is less important.

The hardest thing about biathlon is reconciling contradictions. While skiing, the athletes give their all, but their minds are quiet. As they approach the firing range, they begin to think. Then the orientation begins. On the wind direction. The respiration. There is room for nerves, doubt. Some repeat a command. Trying to picture the right trigger pressure with their fingers. In this way they crawl into the tunnel that is necessary to remain error-free.

Feathers from the mouth

After four kilometers, Tsvetkov and Boe drop down towards the Olympic stadium. They rest their arms on their thighs, trying to relax by taking deep breaths. Then they wriggle their wrists out of the loops of their ski poles and look for the mat that corresponds to their starting number. They slow down, put the sticks aside, put their sunglasses on their foreheads, lie on their stomachs, pull their rifles on the barrel of their backs, have to load it first, and then start aiming. You can tell what they are doing by the movements of their bellies and the plumes of their mouths; just after exhaling they pull the trigger. Only then do they lie completely still. The sound of each shot shattered against the mountain walls.

The Norwegian, with cheekbones taped against the cold, misses and has to chase. He had a lead, but it disappeared after one moment of loss of concentration. Tsvetkov remains clear. Just like Fillon Maillet, the man who manufactures the wooden butt of his rifle himself. In the weeks leading up to the Games, the gendarmerie crawled through cramped tunnels, received shooting training, and balanced on tightropes between tall buildings. In this way he learned to deal with stress situations. And how he could keep the peace. That would come in handy.

How have the medals at the Winter Games been distributed so far?

Because he misses shooting in the second and third rounds, the last time on the very last shot. The horror is visible on his face. There are only five shots left. And Tsvetkov and Boe remain clear. He thinks he missed the gold. But he doesn’t panic. The Frenchman has the race of his life, catches up a bit, and then strikes at the final shot when standing still is the hardest part due to the physical misery. His opponents miss, he doesn’t anymore. His coaches are yelling on the sidelines. They know that France has won its first gold at these Games. Although the Belarusian Anton Smolski still comes eerily close. He shot flawlessly throughout the game. But had to make it cross-country.

On the last straight, the biathletes sprint until they can’t anymore. Fillon Maillet just manages to clench his right fist, but then he falls through his legs. Like many of his colleagues, he remains in the fetal position for a long time. There are also those who press their forearms and heads into the snow as if in prayer. As if they don’t know what just happened to them. That’s how much the biathlon hurts.

The winner quickly scrambles up. Because he has followed in the footsteps of his great example. Olympic gold is the ultimate pain reliever.