OK, for shooters the biathalon has to be the best Olympic sport, right?

[Phillyfan]

So when I was taught to shoot in basic one of the biggest things was to control your breathing. It is amazing to me how these athletes can bring their heart rate down so quickly. I hope when you guys watch what these people do you understand the challenge that is going on. These guys are basically running a marathon, and being stopped every once in a while to try and shoot at a world class level, and then continue on. To me, it is one of the most intense mind over body, exhibitions I have ever seen.

Take the greatest marksmen of all time and make them run around a track four times, shoot for score within seconds, run four more times around, shoot for score again. I can guarantee that their scores would be nothing like they would be normally.

It's one of my favorite Winter Olympic competitions. One of the most challenging things I can imagine. Skill, mind, conditioning, it just amazes me.

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[Certaindeaf]

It's one of my favorites. Those straight pull bolt guns are pretty cool too.
I miss my Browning T-Bolt .22

 

[Chee-to]

Date Time Event Stage
Feb 08 9:30 AM ET (M) 10km Sprint Final
Feb 09 9:30 AM ET (W) 7.5km Sprint Final
Feb 10 10:00 AM ET (M) 12.5km Pursuit Final
Feb 11 10:00 AM ET (W) 10km Pursuit Final
Feb 13 9:00 AM ET (M) 20km Individual Final
Feb 14 9:00 AM ET (W) 15km Individual Final
Feb 16 10:00 AM ET (M) 15km Mass Start Final
Feb 17 10:00 AM ET (W) 12.5km Mass Start Final
Feb 19 9:30 AM ET (X) 2x6km+2x7.5km Relay Final
Feb 21 9:30 AM ET (W) 4x6km Relay Final
Feb 22 9:30 AM ET (M) 4x7.5km Relay Final

 

[Certaindeaf]

Excellent. Thanks.

 

[Smitty79]

I want IPSC in the summer games.

 

[Certaindeaf]

The women's biathlon is on now.

 

[Spielmannsfluch]

I love the biathlon but I always thought they should use a hunting caliber, shoot from longer and more variable ranges and have to simulate carrying back the weight of the animal you just shot.

 

[Classic]

They don't bring their heart rates down, they lean to shoot with them in the 170-180 range! This is why the US has never won a medal in this event. Maybe in 4 years................

 

[BAMCIS]

They don't bring their heart rates down, they lean to shoot with them in the 170-180 range! This is why the US has never won a medal in this event. Maybe in 4 years................

But this doesn't make any sense. The left screams the rest of the world looks upon the US is a gun crazed culture. And if we were a gun crazed culture we'd be taking gold, silver, and bronze every time the Olympics comes around. Kinda like basketball is now that we can field NBA dream teams.

 

[BAMCIS]

You're right Philly, this event is probably the most truly athletic event in the Olympics.

I'd rather watch biathlon than this figure skating crap NBC is bringing us now.

Go ahead.......flame on! But to me figure skating is full of spoiled little rich girls or girly men.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I think it's the other part of the biathlon that the yanks struggle with

But yeah, it's controlling the breathing, more than the heart rate. Very light .22 competition straight pull bolt rifles, cracking shots.

 

[Simonpie]

At 170 beats per minute, I'm pretty sure my lungs would be yelling at me, "Breathe!" Since every miss means an extra loop to ski, my legs would be yelling, "Don't breathe!" With all this body yelling, who's concentrating on the trigger?

 

[tac]

I did biathlon in the military for a number of years as a winter sport. Not because I was very good at it, but because it was enormous fun and hard work, as well as being a 'soldierly' sport, giving you a real sense of achievement just to complete the course at all. All of my biathlon was in Norway, carrying and shooting the service sniping rifle, at that time a ten-shot 7.62x51 NATO shooter. Sometimes I got to shoot the Swedes' lovely 6.5x55SE Carl Gustaf or the more usual Norwegian Kongsberg, this in either 7.62 or 6.5. I totally lost interest when they changed over to the .22cal Fortner-actioned 'toy' guns. To me, Biathlon was always about a MILITARY skill required for that type of environment.

Incidentally, I was selected to eventually 'do' this sport when I joined the Army and was doing the usual recruit circuit training. The staff there, taking notes of everything, noticed very early on that I had a very fast recovery rate and a stupendously low heart-rate, both coupled with the large and unspoilt high-capacity lungs of a 'never-smoker'. My heartbeat today is still only around 44bpm, and I'm 68 next month.

As MaXX notes above, it's breath control that count as well, but having a recovery rate that draws a graph-line like a dropped anvil sure helps.

tac

 

[RicInOR]

There are gun sports in the Summer Olympics. For some teams, they cannot train in their own country. England for example.

My favorite Biathlon event was:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kkTMl7INCTY
especially starting at 7:25

 

[tac]

Not true. The UK pistol team has government dispensation to train in the UK. The UK rifle team has no restrictions of any kind with regard to their training, nor do any of the shotgunners. I guess you've never read any of my ten thousand-plus posts on gunboards, sigforum, muzzleloadingform and so on about shooting sports in UK?

You mention England in your post - I assume that you are ignoring Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland? That's the Northern Ireland where there are no wacky laws preventing a sane and law-abiding person from owning any kind of modern handgun, not just the long-barrelled revolvers and pistols and black powder stuff that is all we are allowed on mainland UK.

BTW, there are also about 3000 CCW permits on issue in Northern Ireland - nowhere else in Europe has that facility.

tac

 

[tac]

That's my Ruger Super Redhawk in .357Mag plus its x2-7 Burris scope.



tac

PS - no laffin'.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I honestly wish that gun knowledge/safety was promoted in the UK, no one knows anything about it, or firearms in the UK outside of the few, and i found that very sad and annoying when i lived there

What you came across was a large problem from people, their only knowledge of guns, is that they're there to kill people, they have no other purpose, therefore they have absolutely no interest in them. And by that, i mean, they refuse to hear any other point of view that disagrees with 'their only purpose is to kill people'

 

[tac]

My club has over three hundred members, and is a UK Sporting Heritage club. As for 'the few', I'm not sure what you mean. For sure it's a minority sport, but there are over 6 miilion shotguns in private hands in the UK - that's one for every 11 people. There are a million firearms certificate holders, with around 4.5 million legally-owned firearms, over 1250 gun clubs, 400 gun ranges and about 12,000 gun and associated stores.

The annual Shooting show - two days long this weekend at Stoneleigh - is the largest PUBLIC gunshow in entire Europe, with an expected visitor count of about 35,000. Of course, this pales into insignificance by comparison with the LV Shot-show, but remember that THIS country does NOT have a guaranteed ownership of firearms built into its constitution.

Shooting sports put $3.5 BILLION into the UK economy every year, too.

I guess that you've been talking to the wrong people all this time.

BTW, I have only got eighteen guns here in UK - that's three handguns and fifteen rifles, but there are fellow club members with 40, 50 or more. Just sayin'. Now I've figured out how the site works, perhaps you'd like to see some of them, or, if you have a few minutes, take a look at my Youtube channel - tac's guns. It might prove to be an illuminating experience. Today was a guest day at our club, and over thirty club members brought their pals along to see what we actually get up to. Five guests signed up as provisional members on the spot.

Best

tac

 

[tac]

My apologies for thread drifting here.

tac, in the middle of cleaning four of the guns I took shooting today.

 

[F2CMaDMaXX]

I think 6 million in 65 million is less than one gun per person, but you're right, i haven't met the right people in the UK. Again, back to the education side, so many people have no idea about that so much contributes and goes on there. And you have to have a bunch of money you can assign to it there

Yes, i'd love to see them, link to the channel? anything, i'm always interested.