The Paralympics Biathlon is one of the two Nordic skiing disciplines to be held during the Vancouver 2010 Winter Olympics. The Paralympic biathlon includes events for standing competitors as well as competitors that have to remain sitting down and the visually impaired athlete.
For the short distance biathlon the athletes will race in a 2.5 km loop completing this loop three times. There will be two stops during the race to shoot at the targets on the range, where they will take 5 shots aiming at a metal target that is 10 meters away from the competitor. If an athlete misses a target they will incur a penalty lap of 150 m, which will be skied for each missed shot. For the visually impaired athletes the target is equipped with an acoustic sound system that produces different tones as the rifle is aimed toward the target, allowing the athlete to know where the bull’s eye is located.
In the long distance biathlon the athletes will ski the loop a total of five times and stop for target shooting 4 times. Missing a target in this event ad’s one minute for each target missed to the competitor’s total time. Here are some of the events that will be taking place during these competitions;
Men’s 3 x 2 km pursuit
Men’s 12.5 km
Women’s 3 x 2 km pursuit
Women’s 12.5 km
Women’s 10 km
 
The venue for these competitions will be in Whistler, BC, a scenic two hour drive from downtown Vancouver. The Whistler Paralympic Park will host both the cross country skiing events and the biathlon events on parts of the trails made up for the Olympics. Construction of the Paralympics Park in Whistler began in April of 2005 and was completed in the fall of 2007. There will be some temporary construction and other set-up work that will begin in the summer of 2009.
Here is a look at the sustainable attributes for this venue as presented by VANOC (Vancouver Olympic Committee):
- provincial (BC EAO) and federal (CEAA) environmental assessment review for core competition venue and legacy recreation trails
- smart site selection — previously harvested forest, adjacent to a former mine, significant commercial and public recreational use
- minimized site disturbance and overall footprint including approximately 30 per cent reduction of overall venue footprint compared to initial design; design changes to avoid disturbing old growth forest and wetlands within core competition venue; and reduced stream crossings
- On-site waste wood re-use for temporary operations compounds and innovative on-site composting for green-up material.
Be sure to check our user friendly Vancouver Olympic schedule for the dates and start times of all your favorite events. See you in Vancouver.
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