ANTERSELVA, Italy — The sport of biathlon, which combines cross-country skiing and precision target shooting, requires hundreds of hours of training annually and the ability to push your body to the maximum effort for an athlete to have a chance of success at the Olympics.Biathletes also require special (and extremely expensive) equipment to compete at the top levels. Their gear includes thousands of bullets, dozens of skis and poles and a team of coaches and technicians to keep everything running smoothly.Here’s a breakdown of some of the key numbers that explain what goes into the sport of biathlon. The number of technicians who prepare hundreds of skis with special waxes and grinds to ensure the best glide for the day during World Cup, World Championship and Olympic events. The technicians will spend dozens of hours testing the skis on the snow before they can be used in a race.That’s how many pairs of skis each biathlete has at a race. Each one is different. Each has a certain flex for hard or soft snow surfaces, special waxes that repel moisture or stand up to cold, sharp snow crystals. The base of the ski will be prepared with various grinds that respond to various snow conditions. The number of hours a World Cup biathlete will train each year, according to Finnish head coach Erik Torneus-Kulstad. That’s in addition to time spent practicing shooting, both inside without ammunition — called “dry fire” — and at the range. German biathlon head coach Tobias Reiter said his athletes train 700 to 800 hours per year.The number of bullets a top biathlete will shoot each year, both in training and at competitions. Each rifle carries four magazines that hold five bullets each. The sprint and relay races use two magazines, while the longer individual, pursuit and mass start races require 20 bullets. They a …
