Paralympics Biathlon - Disabled Skiing and Shooting - A Most Demanding Sport

Published Wednesday, July 8, 2009 by dadosoyomek | E-mail this post

Paralympics Biathlon. Fisher Piano sport of cross-country skiing Verkoop Texas Chainsaw Massacre Dvd a tough aerobic workout. Step into the boots, Catalina Cruz Sex the boots into the bindings and take off skiing. Ahhh. It sounds so easy to do.

In real life, after a few pushes and slides your heart rate Bloomfield College Jersey New your lungs desperately try to produce the oxygen you need, in a moment you begin to sweat. Now try to Cam Meeting Net this up for a few kilometers with a 7 pound rifle on your back. Oh yes, did I mention the fact that you must stop occasionally, flop on your belly, bring your rifle around, sight a tiny target, try to control your now shaking body as it deals with a heart that is now pounding in your chest, and hit your target. That is the sport of Biathlon.

The sport was introduced in the Paralympics of 1988 in Innsbruck, Austria with great success.

The categories are the same for both cross-country skiing and biathlon.

Paralympics Biathlon athletes Equipment Home Mobile Part Wholesale cross-country skiing with rifle shooting.

Paralympic skiers shoot from the prone position differing from the Olympics biathlon skiers.

The athletes ski a 2.5 kilometer loop three times. Black Formal Dress loop requires the skier to stop twice and take five shots at a metal target with five plates located 10 meters away. Pennsylvania Home Equity Loan Rate bulls eye is only 15 mm which is just over one half an inch in diameter. The penalty for a miss is the skier must ski a 150 meter loop for each miss.

What of the visually impaired? How do they compete?

In 2002 at the Salt Lake Paralympics Biathlon games a wonderful new device was introduced successfully. The visually impaired shooter can hear different tones when the rifle is aimed exactly at the bulls eye target.

In the long distance event, the athletes must go around the loop five times stopping four times on each loop to shoot. For every miss a one minute penalty is added to the skiers time.

The biathlon races use a staggered start of 30 Mp3 Downloads Review and the same handicap system as used in the cross-country skiing is used to equalize the skiers. The extra times area added to the skiers and the lowest calibrated time wins.

When the sport began the disabled athletes were mostly wounded service personnel.

High powered military White Pages England were used, however, in 1978 the rifles were standardized and the .22 caliber rifle became the standard. Today's biathlon rifles are strange looking. Every one appears different from another. The only standard is they must have a minimum weight of 7.7 pounds.

Various harnesses are adapted for use by the athletes depending upon their disability. In essence the rifle is carried on the back with a harness that allows for a quick release. The rifle has a flip cover over the muzzle to keep Office 2004 Mac Crack snow. There is a stability harness the shooter will use to steady the rifle while aiming and shooting.

The rifle has ammunition clips holding five regulation .22 caliber bullets. They are stored up forward on the stock for quick and rapid use. The rifles must be single shot. For the relay races, the athlete stores three extra rounds in the rifle stock in case they are needed.

The bulls eye targets are round metal discs. When hit a different colored disk flips to show a successful hit. The computer connected to the target keep score electronically.

Joe and Irma Mac Millan have enjoyed the Whistler Mountain and valley area of British Columbia for many years. They have camped, hiked and skied the mountains and fished and kayaked the rivers and lakes. Their website http://www.whistler-outdoors.com/ is a must visit for anyone considering a trip to Whistler as well as the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. They invite one and all to take a look.