Here is how the Biathlon works, including its rules, scoring and history in the Olympics.

Biathlon combines two sports – cross-country skiing and shooting – into one race. The biathlon first made its debut 66 years ago in the 1960 Winter Olympics at the renamed Palisades Tahoe in Olympic Valley near Lake Tahoe. This year, the Winter Olympic biathlon games will be held in Antholz (Anterselva), Italy.

Johan-Olav Botn hit all 20 targets to claim gold for Norway in the Olympic 20 kilometres biathlon race on Tuesday. Botn, the early season World Cup leader, was 14.

The Winter Games are often romanticized as a pure test of human limits, but in reality, they are a bureaucratic minefield where the rulebook matters as much as the athlete. Behind every record-breaking jump or lightning-fast run lies a dense web of regulations governing everything from fabric tension to invisible chemical residue.

Here's what to know on when biathlon begins at the Milano Cortina 2026 Winter Olympics, including a look at its full schedule for the Winter Games.

ANTERSELVA, Italy (AP) — Johan-Olav Botn of Norway shot perfectly in his Olympic debut to secure the gold medal in the men’s 20-kilometer individual biathlon at the Milan Cortina Winter Games on Tuesday.

Sturla Holm Laegreid’s Olympic medal celebration has turned into a personal controversy. His former girlfriend reacted strongly after the Norwegian biathlete publicly admitted cheating on her during a live television interview following his bronze medal performance.

The Winter Olympics bring sports we barely see outside of these few weeks. Many of them look exciting. Some of them look like a bad idea for normal people. A lot of these events mix speed, ice, height,