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US Biathlon

Posted on 2/8/22 at 11:18 pm
Posted by Junky
Louisiana
Member since Oct 2005
8362 posts
Posted on 2/8/22 at 11:18 pm
Why has the US been so poorly represented in a sport that should be easy? Is it the difference in culture in America from shooting and cross country skiing? Seems fairly straight forward shooting .22's open sights after skiing one's arse off.
This post was edited on 2/8/22 at 11:19 pm
Posted by Obtuse1
Westside Bodymore Yo
Member since Sep 2016
25579 posts
Posted on 2/9/22 at 12:11 am to
quote:

Why has the US been so poorly represented in a sport that should be easy? Is it the difference in culture in America from shooting and cross country skiing? Seems fairly straight forward shooting .22's open sights after skiing one's arse off.


Given the number of gun owners, the US has a fairly poor track record in shooting sports. It is even more tragic in smallbore rifle. I shot small bore three position rifle through college and wasn't far out from making the team for the '88 games but the international competition was MUCH stiffer than the national level here.

So considering smallbore rifle is a niche sport here and Xcountry is also a niche sport giving a very small Venn overlap and that should illustrate the situation. However, Deedra Irwin did place better than any American ever in the women's biathlon.
Posted by kengel2
Team Gun
Member since Mar 2004
30731 posts
Posted on 2/9/22 at 7:44 am to
We shoot 10/22s at coke cans.

They shoot Anschutz at dimes.

People here would rather shoot a rabbit then chase a medal.
Posted by texn
Pronouns: Y'All/Y'All's
Member since Nov 2019
3496 posts
Posted on 2/10/22 at 5:56 pm to
Combine the shooting events with equestrian events, and Americans would dominate.

The West wasn't won on top of skis.
Posted by MSTiger33
Member since Oct 2007
20368 posts
Posted on 2/11/22 at 9:26 pm to
quote:

Combine the shooting events with equestrian events, and Americans would dominate.


Do you even pentathlon? It’s the greatest Olympic sport out there.
This post was edited on 2/11/22 at 9:27 pm
Posted by waiting4saturday
Covington, LA
Member since Sep 2005
9713 posts
Posted on 2/11/22 at 10:37 pm to
quote:

Is it the difference in culture in America from shooting and cross country skiing?


If the South got more snow fall, the US would never lose.
Posted by xxTIMMYxx
Member since Aug 2019
17562 posts
Posted on 2/11/22 at 10:57 pm to
They should add grenade launchers on distant buildings to make it more interesting
Posted by Obtuse1
Westside Bodymore Yo
Member since Sep 2016
25579 posts
Posted on 2/12/22 at 9:15 am to
quote:

If the South got more snow fall, the US would never lose.


The South doesn't really have much of a competition shooting history or structure. I shot 3 position small bore from 11 through college and most people I knew had never seen a free rifle and thought my Anshutz 1907 was some sort of alien weapon. On my college team we had kids from all over the country even though the student body had a very high percentage of students from Southern states.

I compete in F-Class now (casually) and the number of competitors from the South is roughly the same as the population. Some of the very best in F-Class seem to be from the Pac NW.

While from the outside hunting and competitive shooting seem to be very similar disciplines in actually they are quite different even if the core fundamentals are the same. Two glaring examples I always see is most shooters don't have any idea how to properly use a sling and think it is primarily for carrying a rifle and watching most people shooting offhand standing it becomes clear they have no idea how to build a position and just don't understand the biomechanics supporting the rifle with muscle instead of relying on the skeletal structure.

The positive is high school shooting teams are becoming much more popular and widespread. That however doesn't do much for building high-level competitors outside of a few phenoms. It has to trickle down to early elementary ages kids just like football and baseball to give kids the early instruction and skills to develop into national and world-class shooters. If a kid is not breaking into the 1100s (in 3 position) by the time they start high school they will almost certainly never be national or world-class.
Posted by xxTIMMYxx
Member since Aug 2019
17562 posts
Posted on 2/13/22 at 11:04 pm to
Russia and nordics clean up in cross country and biathlon. That’s where they are winning everything
This post was edited on 2/14/22 at 12:00 am
Posted by justsaygeaux2
Member since Feb 2017
2210 posts
Posted on 2/14/22 at 1:38 am to
We'd kick some arse if we could shoot at the other competitors.
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