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50 free Biathlon trivia questions with answers — sports quiz, new questions added Aug 2026.
This biathlon trivia quiz covers the sport that pairs cross-country skiing with rifle marksmanship. The rules questions test what every viewer wonders about: how far away the targets are, how big they get when you stand up, what a miss costs in each format, why the rifle must weigh at least 3.5 kilograms and why nobody wears ear protection. The history questions run from Norwegian military skiing contests and Olympic military patrol to the switch from army rifles to .22 rimfire and the arrival of women's events at Albertville in 1992. The second half is about the people: Ole Einar Bjørndalen's clean sweep at Salt Lake City, Martin Fourcade's seven crystal globes, Magdalena Neuner retiring at 25, Darya Domracheva's Sochi treble, Laura Dahlmeier's five golds at one championship and Johannes Thingnes Bø's 16-win season. Difficulty runs from easy to expert and is shown on every question. Every answer was checked against a reference page and each question carries its citation. Try our Winter Olympics and skiing quizzes next.
30 of 50 questions with answers and explanations. Play the quiz
Q 01Biathlon combines cross-country skiing with which other discipline?
Rifle shooting
In the Nordic languages the sport is simply called ski-shooting.
Q 02Biathlon developed from which older sport, contested at the 1924 Winter Olympics?
Military patrol
That precursor was contested at the 1924 Winter Olympics and demonstrated at three later Games.
Q 03How far away are the targets on a biathlon range?
50 metres
The distance was cut from 150 metres in 1978, the same year the small-bore .22 cartridge was standardised.
Q 04How many targets must a biathlete hit in each shooting bout?
Five
Each rifle magazine holds exactly five rounds, one per target.
Q 05What is the diameter of the target hit zone when shooting prone?
45 mm
Standing shooters get a 115 mm zone, but the black bull they aim at looks the same size in both positions.
Q 06What calibre of ammunition do biathlon rifles fire?
.22 long rifle
Because the rounds are usually subsonic, ear protection is neither required nor generally used.
Q 07What is the minimum weight of a biathlon rifle, excluding spare ammunition and magazines?
3.5 kg
Skiers carry it on a harness throughout the race and only take it off at the shooting stages.
Q 08How long is the standard penalty loop skied for a missed shot in most race formats?
150 metres
The individual race instead adds a fixed time penalty, usually one minute, for each miss.
Q 09In the individual race, what penalty is usually added for each missed target?
One minute
That is why the oldest format is often the most tactical: clean shooting matters more than raw speed.
Q 10How long is the men's individual race, the oldest biathlon event?
20 km
Women ski 15 km, and both cover four shooting bouts in the order prone, standing, prone, standing.
Q 11How many shooting bouts does a sprint race include?
Two
Once prone and once standing, for ten shots in total over three skiing laps.
Q 12In which format do athletes start at intervals based on their time gaps from a previous race?
Pursuit
Only the top 60 from the preceding race take part, to prevent dangerous crowding on the loops and range.
Q 13How many athletes line up together in a standard World Cup mass start?
30
A separate Mass Start 60 format, introduced in 2018/19, staggers the first shooting bout by bib number to fit twice as many.
Q 14In a relay, how many rounds in total may a biathlete fire at each set of five targets?
Q 21What is biathlon called in Norwegian?
Skiskyting
It literally means ski shooting; skifeltskyting is a separate Norwegian contest with large-calibre rifles at unknown ranges.
Q 22Which country's Trysil Rifle and Ski Club, founded in 1861, was one of the first ski clubs?
Norway
It was set up to promote national defence at the local level.
Q 23At which Winter Olympics did biathlon make its official debut?
1960 Squaw Valley
The only event was the men's 20 km individual; the relay followed at Grenoble in 1968.
At which Games did women's biathlon first appear at the Olympics?
Eight
The three spare rounds must be loaded by hand one at a time, and any target still standing costs a penalty loop.
Q 15How is a mixed relay team composed?
Two women and two men
Until 2017 the women always ran the first two legs; since 2018 either sex can start.
Q 16How many biathletes make up a single mixed relay team?
Two
One woman and one man each ski two legs on a short 1.5 km course with a 75 m penalty loop.
Q 17Which technique is overwhelmingly the choice of biathletes out on the course?
Skate skiing
All cross-country techniques are permitted at the Olympics, but skating is far faster on the groomed loops.
Q 18What is the minimum ski length allowed in biathlon?
The skier's height minus 4 cm
Skiers must also carry the rifle on a harness for the whole race and remove it only to shoot.
Q 19How does a hit register visually for the shooter and the spectators?
A white paddle covers the black target
Mechanical targets flip the paddle with the bullet's momentum; electronic ones use an acoustic system.
Q 20Which Norse god, revered as both ski god and hunting god, is cited as part of biathlon's roots?
Ullr
Norwegian skiing regiments were organising military skiing contests with shooting as early as the 18th century.
Albertville 1992
Women had held their own World Championships since 1984 and joined a combined championship in 1989.
Q 25The mass start was introduced to the Olympic programme at which Games?
Turin 2006
The top 30 biathletes from the previous four events were allowed to start together.
Q 26In which year was the first Biathlon World Championship held, in Austria?
1958
Two years later the sport was finally included in the Olympic Games.
Q 27In which year was the small-bore .22 rimfire cartridge standardised for the sport?
1978
Early championships used the .30-06 Springfield and 7.62 NATO, with ammunition carried in pouches on a belt.
Q 28At which Winter Olympics did mechanical self-indicating targets make their debut?
Lake Placid 1980
Fully electronic targets were not approved for IBU events until the 2018–19 season.
Q 29In which year did the IBU officially separate from the UIPMB, its parent federation?
1998
The IBU had been created as a branch of that union in July 1993.
Q 30With which other sport did biathlon share a governing body from 1953 until the 1990s?
Modern pentathlon
The UIPMB's presidents included Sweden's Sven Thofelt, who held the post for 28 years.