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EXPLAINER: Biathlon combines physical demands, mental calm

Biathlete Paul Schommer shoots during Biathlon World Cup Team Trials at Soldier Hollow on Oct. 24, 2021, in Midway, Utah. A biathlete skis several kilometers and arrives at the shooting range with a heart rate as high as 180 beats per minute. Next they shoot at five targets within 25 to 35 seconds. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) An athlete loads a bullet into a magazine during Biathlon World Cup Team Trials at Soldier Hollow on Oct. 24, 2021, in Midway, Utah. A biathlete skis several kilometers and arrives at the shooting range with a heart rate as high as 180 beats per minute. Next they shoot at five targets within 25 to 35 seconds. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) A target is displayed during Biathlon World Cup Team Trials at Soldier Hollow on Oct. 24, 2021, in Midway, Utah. A biathlete skis several kilometers and arrives at the shooting range with a heart rate as high as 180 beats per minute. Next they shoot at five targets within 25 to 35 seconds. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Biathletes shoot during Biathlon World Cup Team Trials at Soldier Hollow on Oct. 24, 2021, in Midway, Utah. A biathlete skis several kilometers and arrives at the shooting range with a heart rate as high as 180 beats per minute. Next they shoot at five targets within 25 to 35 seconds. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Jake Brown looks on after a race at the Biathlon World Cup Team Trials in Soldier Hollow on Oct. 24, 2021, in Midway, Utah. Brown says biathlon is the marriage of “two totally unrelated things." One is physical and the other is mostly mental. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Lowell Bailey speaks during an interview at the Biathlon World Cup Team Trials in Soldier Hollow on Oct. 25, 2021, in Midway, Utah. Bailey, a retired four-time U.S. Olympic biathlete and the team’s high-performance coach, said the combination of fast skiing and high-pressure shooting makes biathlon is an “exceptionally good spectator sport.” (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) Armin Auchentaller looks through a scope during Biathlon World Cup Team Trials at Soldier Hollow on Oct. 24, 2021, in Midway, Utah. A biathlete skis several kilometers and arrives at the shooting range with a heart rate as high as 180 beats per minute. Next they shoot at five targets within 25 to 35 seconds. “Shooting with a high heart rate is really difficult,” said Auchentaller of Antholz, Italy who coaches the U.S. women’s biathlon team. (AP Photo/Rick Bowmer) FILE - Jake Brown of the United States competes during the men's 20km individual race at the biathlon World Cup in Anterselva, Italy, Thursday, Jan. 20, 2022. Brown says biathlon is the marriage of “two totally unrelated things." One is physical and the other is mostly mental. (AP Photo/Matthias Schrader, File) FILE - A biathlete from Slovakia prepares to shoot during practice at the 2022 Winter Olympics, Feb. 3, 2022, in Zhangjiakou, China. (AP Photo/Carlos Osorio, File)