20,000 spectators.
A deafening noise.
Bells, whistles, applause and shouts to the rhythm of bullets being fired.
The biathlete, placed fifty meters from a target the size of a DVD disc, must empty his mind, hold his breath and adjust the rifle.
“
You have to imagine it.
Arrive at the shooting range in front of the crowd, after two or three kilometers of effort.
The biathlete must stay in his bubble.
There is no need to procrastinate.
In a World Cup race, you have to 'fill up'
(succeed in all five shots, Editor's note),” explains Jean-Pierre Amat, Olympic shooting champion in 1996 in Atlanta, who became shooting coach of the French team men's biathlon.
If shooting only makes up about 4% of the total race time, the repercussions of mistakes can be fatal.
For each missed target, the biathlete must circle around a penalty ring.
Wasted time and energy.
Two missed targets, victory slips away.
“
There is such competition on the world circuit that we cannot afford to miss out on balls
,” breathes the coach.
Thus, on average over the last six World Cup seasons, the fifty best biathletes on the men's and women's circuits have only missed one ball every seven shots, i.e. 85.3% success for men and 85.2% % for women.
It is necessary to differentiate the two types of shots.
In each race, the biathletes perform at least once on a so-called 'lying' shot and another time on a 'standing' shot.
In the 'prone' shot, the biathlete lies down, stomach down on the mat.
“
It allows you to make fewer mistakes because the biathlete is more stable,”
explains Jean-Pierre Amat.
Even if the diameter of the target is small, both men and women succeed on average at 88%, or even 89% in certain seasons, with their shots.
'Standing' is more complex.
Biathletes must create stability, bracing their elbow against their ribs, before adjusting the target.
Obviously, success drops on average to 82%.
“No choice but to shoot quickly and well”
What differentiates the top 50 from the top 10?
The top 10 world champions?
While 'full' is necessary in every race for victory, due to strong competition, this is not the only factor.
“
The clock is ticking during the shot
,” breathes Jean-Pierre Amat.
Reducing the time spent on the shooting mat is a goal.
Twenty years ago, we thought a rapid fire was 35 or 38 seconds.
Today, in perfect conditions, it's a two-shot clock.
Speed is essential.
We have no choice but to shoot quickly and well.
»
Read alsoBiathlon: “The worst conditions”, “disgusting”, “horrible”… the biathletes rebel against the Oberhof stage
Biathletes therefore spend a large part of the off-season working on 'server gestures', that is to say installation patterns on the fastest possible shooting range.
“You also have to be in front of the target.
If we set up two seconds faster than everyone else but spend two seconds looking for the first target, we lose everything
, points out Jean-Pierre Amat.
When the biathlete starts aiming, the rifle must be right in front of the first target to gain speed and quality.
» In the game of being the fastest, certain biathletes have built their reputation.
The two world champions Dorothea Wierer and Julia Simon built the keys to their respective titles on this factor: more than 88% shooting success in less than 26 seconds on the mat.
Among the men, two untouchable biathletes have dominated the last decade in a different style: Martin Fourcade then the Norwegian Johannes Boe.
“
Johannes, like Martin at his peak, is so far ahead in terms of skiing that he can make up for his mistakes
,” explains Jean-Pierre Amat.
Obviously, his approach to shooting is different.
» So the Norwegian, like Martin Fourcade, takes 28 to 29 seconds to adjust the sights.
“Johannes Boe is takeable”
Untouchable?
Not always.
In biathlon, the race formats differ.
In the sprint (10km for men, 7.5km for women) and individual (20km for men, 15km for women) events, the biathletes complete the course alone and remain in their bubble during their shots.
“
The ideal plan for a biathlete, and this is what we work on, is to arrive at the shot, settle in and have 100% of your concentration directed towards your target
,” confides the French coach.
It is therefore no coincidence that, since the 2020-2021 season, 68% of the women's top 15 and 74% of the men's top 15 have recorded their best shooting performances in one of these two races.
The undisputed champion Johannes Boe therefore always records his best successes in the individual or the sprint, the latter considered by Jean-Pierre Amat as the reference race for shooting.
A tiny portion of biathletes prefer to feel the pressure of opponents, their breathing a few centimeters away from them and the noise of spectators reacting to each ball.
In the two other formats, the pursuit and the mass start, not only must the biathlete struggle with his competitors on the track but also on the shooting range.
It is on these races that we must bet according to Jean-Pierre Amat: “
Johannes Boe is takeable.
We saw it on the Oberhoff chase this year.
Johannes Boe and Strømsheim arrive together on the first standing.
Johannes has not fired a single bullet as his opponent has already knocked down 3 targets.
At that moment, he must have heard what Strømsheim was doing next door.
» Finally, the Norwegian champion missed a target and let the victory slip to his compatriot.
Shooting depends on details, which a single external parameter can disrupt.