Comparison of the Effects of Performance Level and Sex on Sprint Performance in the Biathlon World Cup

Luchsinger, Harri; Kocbach, Jan; Ettema, Gertjan; Sandbakk, Øyvind

doi:10.1123/ijspp.2017-0112

Cited by 37 publications

(62 citation statements)

References 26 publications

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“…Furthermore, the correlation between XC skiing and overall performance was clearly larger than the corresponding correlations for the overall shooting component. These main findings extend upon the recent findings by Luchsinger et al (2018) who revealed XC skiing time to be the most important contributor to the overall performance difference between top-10 results and those finishing among 21-30 in both sexes in biathlon World Cup sprint races. In the study by Luchsinger et al (2018), XC time explained ∼60% of the variance in overall performance when averaged over 47 World Cup sprint races.…”

Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 88%

“…These main findings extend upon the recent findings by Luchsinger et al (2018) who revealed XC skiing time to be the most important contributor to the overall performance difference between top-10 results and those finishing among 21-30 in both sexes in biathlon World Cup sprint races. In the study by Luchsinger et al (2018), XC time explained ∼60% of the variance in overall performance when averaged over 47 World Cup sprint races. The larger influence of XC skiing time found here may be due to different methodologies between the studies, as well as natural variations across competitions (e.g., racecourses with different terrain in the sections prior to shooting and variation in snow and weather conditions).…”

Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 88%

“…In the current study, XC skiing performance was clearly the most important contributor to the overall biathlon sprint performance, which support previous studies on biathlon sprint races (Skattebo and Losnegard, 2017;Luchsinger et al, 2018). In our approach, a Elevation is not provided for varied terrain sections since these parts of the course consist of small uphills and downhills, as well as flat sections.…”

Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 86%

“…The larger influence of XC skiing time found here may be due to different methodologies between the studies, as well as natural variations across competitions (e.g., racecourses with different terrain in the sections prior to shooting and variation in snow and weather conditions). In our case, the shooting conditions were good (i.e., low wind speeds and good visibility) and athletes had relatively high hit rates, similar to the 92-93% hit rates reported among top-10 racers in World Cup sprint races (Luchsinger et al, 2018). Thus, these factors could additionally have contributed to the high impact of XC skiing performance on the overall biathlon sprint performance in the current study.…”

Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 74%

“…A recent investigation of World Cup performance in biathlon sprint events shows that XC skiing time is the most distinguishing factor for the overall performance (Luchsinger et al, 2018), explaining ∼59-65% of the overall performance difference between top-10 results and those finishing among 21-30 in both sexes. Furthermore, ∼31-35% of the group-difference was explained by shooting performance (i.e., time spent in the penalty loop due to missed targets), whereas shooting time and range time (i.e., time at the shooting range minus shooting time) together explained only 4-6% of the group-difference in overall biathlon sprint performance.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Analysis of a Biathlon Sprint Competition and Associated Laboratory Determinants of Performance

Luchsinger

Talsnes

Kocbach

et al. 2019

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Biathlon is an Olympic winter-sport where crosscountry (XC) skiing in the skating technique is combined with rifle shooting. In the biathlon sprint competition for men, three laps of 3.3-km are interspersed with a 5-shot shooting sequence in the prone and standing position. Our purpose was to investigate the contribution from overall XC skiing performance, the performance in different terrain sections and shooting performance to the overall biathlon sprint race performance, as well as the relationship to laboratory-measured capacities obtained during treadmill roller ski skating. Eleven elite male biathletes were tracked by a Global Positioning System (GPS) device and a heart rate (HR) monitor during an international 10-km biathlon sprint competition. Within a period of 6 weeks prior to the competition, physiological responses, and performance during submaximal and maximal treadmill roller skiing were measured. Stepwise multiple regression analysis revealed that XC skiing time, shooting performance, shooting time and range time explained 84, 14, 1.8, and 0.2% of the overall sprint race performance (all p < 0.01). Time in uphill, varied, and downhill terrains were all significantly correlated to the total XC skiing time (r = 0.95, 0.82, 0.72, respectively, all p < 0.05). Percent of maximal HR (HRmax) and rating of perceived exertion (RPE) during submaximal roller skiing, and time-to-exhaustion during incremental roller skiing correlated significantly with overall biathlon sprint race performance and overall XC skiing time (r = 0.64-0.95, all p < 0.05). In conclusion, XC skiing performance provided greatest impact on biathlon sprint performance, with most of the variance determined by XC skiing performance in the uphill terrain sections. Furthermore, the ability to roller ski with a low RPE and %HRmax during submaximal speeds, as well as time-to-exhaustion during incremental roller skiing significantly predicted biathlon performance. Such laboratory-derived measures may therefore be validly used to distinguish biathletes of different performance levels and to track progress of their XC skiing capacity.

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Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 88%

Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 86%

Section: Overall Biathlon Sprint Race Performancesupporting

confidence: 74%

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

See 3 more Smart Citations

Analysis of a Biathlon Sprint Competition and Associated Laboratory Determinants of Performance

Luchsinger

Talsnes

Kocbach

et al. 2019

Front. Sports Act. Living

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Effects of Additional Rifle-Carriage Training on Physiological Markers and Roller-Skiing Performance in Well-Trained Biathletes

Kårström

McGawley

Laaksonen

2021

J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE

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Purpose The purpose was to investigate whether an increased amount of training while carrying the rifle affects skiing in well-trained biathletes at submaximal and maximal workloads during a pre-season period lasting a minimum of 12 weeks. Methods Seventeen well-trained biathletes (9 females, 8 males) were assigned to an intervention (IG, n = 10) or control (CG, n = 7) group. Before (T1) and after (T2) the training intervention all participants performed, using treadmill roller-skiing, a submaximal test without the rifle on one day and two submaximal workloads and a maximal time trial (TT) with the rifle on a subsequent day. Between T1 and T2 all participants performed a minimum of 12 weeks of normal training, the only difference between groups being that IG performed more of their training sessions carrying the rifle. Results IG performed more training compared to CG (15.4 ± 1.1 vs. 11.2 ± 2.6 h/week, P < 0.05), including a higher amount of training with the rifle (3.1 ± 0.6 vs. 1.1 ± 0.3 h/week, P < 0.001). Speed at 4 mmol/L of blood lactate increased significantly for CG from T1 to T2 (P = 0.028), while only tended to increase for IG (P = 0.058). Performance during the TT, VO2max and the aerobic metabolic rate increased significantly from T1 to T2, although the differences disappeared when including the speed at baseline as a covariate. Conclusion According to the present results, increasing training while carrying the rifle by 2 h/week does not appear to improve skiing performance in well-trained biathletes. In addition, physiological markers at submaximal and maximal intensities while carrying the rifle were not affected after the training intervention.

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Preparing for the Nordic Skiing Events at the Beijing Olympics in 2022: Evidence-Based Recommendations and Unanswered Questions

Sandbakk

Solli

Talsnes

et al. 2021

J. of SCI. IN SPORT AND EXERCISE

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At the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, the XC skiing, biathlon and nordic combined events will be held at altitudes of ~ 1700 m above sea level, possibly in cold environmental conditions and while requiring adjustment to several time zones. However, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic may lead to sub-optimal preparations. The current commentary provides the following evidence-based recommendations for the Olympic preparations: make sure to have extensive experience of training (> 60 days annually) and competition at or above the altitude of competition (~ 1700 m), to optimize and individualize your strategies for acclimatization and competition. In preparing for the Olympics, 10–14 days at ~ 1700 m seems to optimize performance at this altitude effectively. An alternative strategy involves two–three weeks of training at > 2000 m, followed by 7–10 days of tapering off at ~ 1700 m. During each of the last 3 or 4 days prior to departure, shift your sleeping and eating schedule by 0.5–1 h towards the time zone in Beijing. In addition, we recommend that you arrive in Beijing one day earlier for each hour change in time zone, followed by appropriate timing of exposure to daylight, meals, social contacts, and naps, in combination with a gradual increase in training load. Optimize your own individual procedures for warming-up, as well as for maintaining body temperature during the period between the warm-up and competition, effective treatment of asthma (if necessary) and pacing at ~ 1700 m with cold ambient temperatures. Although we hope that these recommendations will be helpful in preparing for the Beijing Olympics in 2022, there is a clear need for more solid evidence gained through new sophisticated experiments and observational studies.

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Comparison of the Effects of Performance Level and Sex on Sprint Performance in the Biathlon World Cup

Cited by 37 publications

References 26 publications

Analysis of a Biathlon Sprint Competition and Associated Laboratory Determinants of Performance

Analysis of a Biathlon Sprint Competition and Associated Laboratory Determinants of Performance

Effects of Additional Rifle-Carriage Training on Physiological Markers and Roller-Skiing Performance in Well-Trained Biathletes

Preparing for the Nordic Skiing Events at the Beijing Olympics in 2022: Evidence-Based Recommendations and Unanswered Questions

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