The 20 km race (for women 15 km) is the oldest biathlon event. This distance is skied over five laps, and biathlete shoots four times at any shooting lane. The order of shooting is prone, standing, prone, standing, totaling 20 targets. For each missed target, a fixed penalty time, usually one minute, is being add to the skiing time of the biathlete. Competitors’ starts are staggered, normally by 30 seconds.
A variation of the standard individual race, called short individual, was introduced during the 2018-19 Biathlon IBU Cup. The races are 15 km for men and 12.5 km for women and for each missed target 45 seconds will be added to the skiing time.
biathlon 