Biathlon - Biathlon Variants

Biathlon Variants

Two common variations on traditional winter biathlon are summer biathlon, where skiing is replaced by a cross-country run, and archery biathlon (or ski archery), where the rifle is replaced by a recurve bow.

There have also been summer competitions in roller-ski biathlon, mountain bike biathlon and orienteering biathlon. Primitive Biathlon uses snowshoes and muzzleloaders.

The Boy Scouts of America offers a Bikeathlon variant at their national Scout jamboree that mixes BMX biking with air rifle shooting at biathlon type targets.

Cadets Canada also offers biathlon to cadets across Canada, with three stages; zones, provincial and national. Zone competitions are occasionally, due to lack of snow in some southern areas, held as summer biathlon. A .22LR caliber rifle is used at all levels. Races are shorter than world class events. More information can be found at the National Cadet Biathlon Championship website.

The World Police and Fire Games, as well as the Western States Police and Fire Games (USA), offer a summer variant which combines cross-country running with service pistol shooting.