Description of Competition
Biathlon Weltcup Ruhpolding


RELAY

Relay competitions for Men consit of four team members skiing 7,5km with two bouts of shooting. The Women`s format is the same except the distance is 6km. The first starter of each team will start in a simultaneous mass start, ski 2,5 km (2km for women), shoot prone, ski 2,5 km, shoot standing and then continue with the last 2,5 km to tag the next team member, or in the case of the last competitor - ski to the finish line.
The team of the first competitor to physically cross the finish line is the winner, subject to any penalties for rule violations.
The Relay is very exciting because spectators can see who is leading at any time. Each competitor in a Relay competiton carries three spare rounds. If all five targets are not knocked down with the first five rounds, the spares may be used. The concept is that because of the intense pressure in the Relay, the competitor may wish to shoot extremely fast and of course the be able to get away quickly if all five targets are hit. However, if all five targets are not hit with the five rounds in the magazine the spare rounds must be loaded individually by hand, which takes much more time and is very difficult under pressure.
Participation in a Relay is set by event rules and start numbers are determined by random draw in certain events.
The start number represents both the team`start track and shhooting lane beginning from the right and according to their actual order of arrival at the shooting range. The start numbers are color coded:red −first leg; green−second;yellow−third;blue−fourth. At the OWG World Championships and World Cup events, the teams`start numbers also represent their current World Cup Relay Score ranking.

SPRINT
The Sprint is a speeded-up, shortened version of the individual in which skiing speed is more important than shooting. Instead of the one minute penalty for missed targets, the competitor must ski a 150 m penalty loop immediately after shooting. With shorter distances and only two bouts of shooting for all classes, the skiing times are around 30 minutes. The Men will ski three loops of 3, 4 and 3 km interspersed with two bouts of shooting. Women will ski three 2,5 km loops in the same format. Participation in the Sprint competition is sef by the quotas for various events.

PURSUIT
Eligibility to compete, and the start order and intervals, in a Pursuit competition are based on a qualifying competition which is normaly held the previous day. Both the Sprint and the Individual competition can be used as the qualifying competition but the Sprint is the norm. In the Pursuit Competition four bouts of shooting take place: prone, prone, standing, standing. The total number participants in World Cup Pursuit competition is 60.
The basis concept of the Pursuit is that the winner of the qualifying competition starts first and the remainder follow in the order and time that the finished behind the winner in the qualifying competition.
The Pursuit is highly exciting because at any time it is easy to see who is leading, and due to the psychological thrill of the competitiors pursuing the athletes ahead of them. The first competitor to cross the finish line is the winner, subject to any penalties or time adjustments. If competitors are lapped in the competition, they must withdraw from the competition at a suitable area in connection with the shooting range.

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