The Biathlon is one of the 
least-known and most difficult of all
Olympic events.  It combines cross 
country skiing and rifle shooting.  
The combination of skiing and 
shooting is not uncommon in 
countries where military ski training
is conducted.   Participants need to
ski vigorously while carrying their 
rifles and ammunition on their 
backs, then stop and shoot at 
targets at several points along the 
trail.   

The event was first introduced in 
the Olympics in 1960, but women 
only became Olympic Biathletes for 
the first time in 1992.  Medals in the 
men's events almost always go to 
participants from Scandinavia, and 
the former Soviet Union and East 
Germany;  many biathletes are in 
fact military men.  The medal story 
is quite different in the women's 
events, with Canadian Myriam 
Beddard winning two golds in 
1994, and the French taking the 
first Gold in women's relay in 1992.