The biathlon is a Nordic race that combines cross-country skiing and target shooting with a rifle. Apart from adaptive equipment, Olympic and Paralympic biathlons are more or less the same.
The Paralympic biathlon has three categories: standing (predominantly for amputees), sit-ski (for those with mobility impairments), and blind and visually impaired, in which racers are paired with sighted guides.
Growth of Paralympic Biathlon
The biathlon became a Paralympic sport for the physically disabled at the 1988 games in Innsbruck, Austria. In 1992, the competition expanded to include blind and visually impaired participants, becoming a medal sport at the 1994 games in Lillehammer, Norway, the first Winter Paralympics in which Nordic skiers (biathlon and cross-country) competed at the same venue used for the Winter Olympics.
There are two biathlon events: the short distance (three laps round a 2.5-kilometer loop) where skiers stop twice to shoot at five black discs fixed in a straight row on a metal target 10 meters away. On scoring hits, a white indicator disc replaces the black target plate. Competitors must ski a 150-meter penalty loop for each missed target. In the long distance (12K) race, skiers circle the same loop five times, stop four times to shoot, and are penalized one minute (added to a skier’s overall time) for each missed target.
Targets in the blind biathlon measure 30 millimeters, 10mm larger than those used in races for the physically disabled. Paralympic biathletes always shoot in a prone (lying down) position.
Biathlon races start skiers at 30-second intervals and use a Nordic Percentage System to equalize the disability time handicap in each category. The percentage is applied to each skier’s final time and the skier with the lowest calculated time is the winner.
Adaptive Equipment for Blind Biathletes
Two main adaptations make the biathlon accessible to the blind: sighted guides and acoustic riflescopes.
A sighted guide leads, follows, or skis alongside each blind athlete and also orients the skier on the shooting range. Guide and skier exchange few words during races, relying on the sound of skis, verbal cues, or beepers to stay on course. Guides need to be about 10 percent faster than the competitor skier to be able to look ahead while monitoring the competitor’s progress. Guides may be in physical contact with totally blind skiers while descending hills.
Blind biathletes sight targets with their ears using earphones and an acoustic system (sometimes called electo-acoustic glasses) that has a special telescopic sight that converts light into sound. The closer the rifle points to the center of the target, the higher the tone.
Qualification rounds for the Visually Impaired biathlon at the 2010 Paralympics in Vancouver begin March 13. The finals take place March 17.
The biathlon demands endurance and precision to be able to ski fast and then stop, drop, and aim at a target. Despite the sport’s shooting component, technology has made competition in biathlon accessible to the blind and visually impaired.
Andrew Leibs - Andrew Leibs is Suite101’s Feature Writer for Accessible Recreation. He is a longtime chronicler of the disability movement with ...
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