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Rules & Procedures
Zeroing
Prior to the start of a biathlon race, the competitors are given fifty minutes to zero their rifles. Usually starting an hour before the start of the competition, and ending ten minutes prior to the start, zeroing is the process of making small adjustments to the mechanical sights of the rifles. Adjustments must be made for daily changes in sunlight, wind, and pressure. The athletes will shoot around twenty shots onto paper targets, which their coaches will look at with a shooting scope. Depending on where the shots hit the target, the coach will recommend that the athletes take clicks, or sight adjustments, in order to get the rifle shooting at the bulls eye of the target.
Warm-Up
After zeroing, the athlete will usually ski a few loops, continue testing skis, stretch, or go for a short jog.
Equipment Control
Fifteen minutes prior to the start, the athlete must go through equipment control. Here, the trigger pressure must exceed 500 grams. A half-kilogram weight is placed on the trigger. The rifle is certified and the serial number taken if the trigger remains locked. The athlete may only finish with this rifle, or one of the national team’s spare rifles, which also must be certified. Also at equipment control, the athlete’s skis are marked. At the finish line, the athlete must be wearing at least one of the marked skis, meaning only one may be changed due to breakage.
Starting
Until the start, the athlete will continue to warm-up by jogging and stretching. Athletes usually start an individual or sprint race at thirty second intervals. For pursuit race, athletes are divided into three lanes and physically held back from starting until their designated start time. In the relay and mass start competitions, the athletes start together. They begin after an organizer fires a pistol shot.
Weather
The start can be delayed due to adverse weather conditions. Temperatures below -20 degrees Celsius (-4 degrees Fahrenheit) can cancel or delay a race. Wind chill is also taken into account when making the decision to cancel a race. Likewise, heavy fog in which athletes cannot see the targets or violent wind can also lead to cancellation or postponement until conditions improve.
Course
On the course, good sportsmanship is the rule. Athletes being overtaken must yield the right of way. The official course must be followed, and should one deviate from it, one must return to the point of departure from the course before continuing. Coaches and team officials are not allowed to pace athletes and are therefore permitted to run alongside athletes for no more than 50 meters.
Shooting
In the shooting range, as well as immediately before and after it, athletes are not allowed any assistance from their coaches or support staff. In the sprint and individual races, athletes may choose whichever shooting point they wish, though the first fifteen are dedicated to prone and second fifteen to standing. In the pursuit competition, athletes are assigned a shooting point based upon their position in the race. For the mass start and relay competitions, an athlete must shooting on the shooting point corresponding to his bib number for the first stage. For the remaining stages, the athletes are assigned points as in the pursuit race.
Penalties
Athletes must shoot all of their bullets, or incur a two-minute penalty for each bullet not shot. After shooting, the athlete must immediately do a 150-meter penalty loop for each missed target, or face a two-minute penalty for each skipped penalty loop. In the individual competition, one-minute is added for each missed target to the athlete’s finish time instead of penalty loops.
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