Trail A will have a difference in elevation of 78 meters, and trail B a difference of 62 meters. Both trails will be 7 meters wide. Sergei Tchepikov and Sergei Tarassov of Russia won the 10km race and the 20km race respectively, and the German team won the relay. Myriam Bedard of Canada won both women's individual events, becoming the first athlete from North America to win an Olympic biathlon event. The Russia women won the relay.
Competitors get five shots to score five hits.
The relay competition is the most exciting discipline. The objective is to ski at high speed yet reserve enough energy to hit five targets at rifle range as fast as possible. Like many modern sports, the biathlon has its origins in the distant past. In Northern Europe, hunting on skis was well known, as in Northern Asia and North America. Since the end of the 19th century, soldiers on skis were found in Scandinavia, Russia, Germany, Austria and Switzerland.