Sprint

The Sprint (10 km for men; 7.5 km for women) became a part of the Olympic Winter Games program at Lake Placid in 1980. Just as it says, this is an all-out effort from start to finish, emphasising fast skiing and equally fast shooting.

Athletes start at 30-second intervals and ski three loops (3 x 3.3 km for men; 3 x 2.5 km for women) with two shooting stages, prone and standing. The athlete skis a 150-meter penalty loop for each missed target before starting on the next loop. The fastest total time determines the winner.