Monday, February 15, 2010

Biathlon - The most badass sport at the Winter Olympics


Whether or not you are crazy about the Winter Olympics, everyone ends up watching them at least a little bit. While I am more of a fan of traditional mainstream sports, I can't help but watch a good amount of the Olympics, too. While the skiing, snowboarding and speed skating are all pretty ballsy events to take part in, they have nothing on the biathlon - the most badass of them all. A little research indicated that the biathlon, a mix of cross country skiing and rifle shooting, was created as alternative training for Norwegian soliders in the 1800s. Why not get some cardio in with some rifle shooting at the same time? I don't know why our marines aren't doing this, too. Apparently these Norwegians also used grizzly bear wrestling and and bare-handed fishing to train, too. No wonder they created arguably the most badass sport of all time - definitely takes the title for all sports at the olympics.

These grisly-ass homediddlies ski a cool 10k while stopping at two different shooting stations - one standing up and the other laying down. The penalty for missing the 2 inch target from 164 feet away in the snow? Extra laps of skiing. Needless to say, these guys must spend 99% of their waking moments shooting, skiing and drinking Schmidt's beer, the only one which would be suitable for a man who chooses to compete in the biathlon. The final was today, but whenever you can, check out this event sometime; there is always the chance that one of these guys will re-enact World War I on global tv.

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