Great sport. Ski until your legs are like rubber bands; then stop and calmly shoot at five targets. Next, do it all over again. A classic.

Today's winner: cute, but he'll have to wipe off that drool first.

Sheesh, do I have to do this thread all by myself?

Coverage of events is here:
http://www.biathlonworld.com/default_uk.html

Bjoerndalen from Norway was amazing. He won four gold medals: three individuals and one in the relay.

Watching the pursuit event was exciting. The athletes start in order with time difference of the previous event so everyone is trying to catch up the first guy. If they miss a target they have to ski a penalty loop. Everything can happen if you don't shoot straight!

[quote] If they miss a target they have to ski a penalty loop. Everything can happen if you don't shoot straight!

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Wow! I'd be running penalty loops indefinately. LOL!

Actually I was watching part of this competition, we are talking about some serious athletes here. It's more like military training than a sport. LOL Comando stuff.

When I was 18 and a freshman in college I taught skiing with a guy that was in the Army. They paid him to train for the olympics in the biathlon. He used to teach skiing for 8 hours a day, then head out into the woods and x-country ski for about 3 hours after that. Talk about being in awesome shape. I wanted to jump him so bad, he was solid as the day is long, but at that point I was still WAY in the closet, so I had to settle for watching him change his clothes, and sleeping in his bed on nights when he went into town.

In the "locker room" the French biathlete team is mistakenly identified as the Italian team. One of them, Poiree, seems rather proud of his abs:

Poiree

Not bad.

He's wearing an Odlo t-shirt. I have an Odlo red, white, and blue anorak that I bought at a thrift store in Portland OR. I will wear it with pride.