The individual races have the longest tradition in biathlon. Shooting is more critical than in other competitions.
Race distance men: 20 km
Race distance women: 15 km
Penalty time: One minute per missed target is immediately added to the athletes time
Duration: about 55 minutes for the best athletes
Prone / standing / prone / standing
Inexperienced spectators may have a hard time telling which athlete is in the lead at any given moment because it is a race against time. This is also why the distances are longer than in other disciplines. There are four shooting bouts for all classes.
- A total of 5 segments of each 3 km (women) and 4 km (men) distance
- There is a shooting bout between each segment
