The Biathlon is a test of not only physical endurance but also a test of nerves and accuracy. The Biathlon is a winter sport which combines the endurance trials of cross-country skiing and rifle shooting.

So athletes not only have to dig deep and grind those muscles but then they have to also to then stop at designated sections, calm those pumping hearts and tame those adrenaline rushes to be as accurate as possible with a rifle aimed at a small target.

That’s the basic concept of the sport. The goal is to complete the course in the shortest time possible as with any race. The shooting skill aspect of it can reward or punish though. Missed shots on the course will amass time penalties that are added on. So there is a great balance and something that your betting on the sport will require a decision on.

Does the fastest athlete with the lower shooting skills trump the sharpshooting one who won’t be as quick on their skis?

Biathlon Events

There are individual events when athletes are on their own over 20 kilometres and a sprint version at half of that. Athletes have a staggered start because it is all based on individual times. There is a pursuit discipline where start times are determined by a previous sprint. There is a mass start version of Biathlon which is self-explanatory, everyone starts at the same time in a free-for-all and it’s first-come-first-served at the shoots. There is also a relay version of Biathlon.

Biathlon Betting Opportunities

So this is a massively popular winter sport and really the pinnacles of the sport are the Biathlon World Cup, the Biathlon World Championships and of course, the Winter Olympics. That is where you will basically come across the most betting opportunities for Biathlon at online betting operators.

Big events are naturally when the profile of the sport is going to be raised. It may need some time invested in looking around at different bookmakers to find the one that serves you the best options. This will solely be dependent on what you are looking for and the options on how to bet Biathlon intelligently simply boil down to odds comparison across the different bookmakers you will find.

Naturally, the sport isn’t going to lend itself to too many alternative betting markets. In football betting, for example, you find markets covering things like goals, discipline, score results, over/under and handicaps. It’s a bit more straightforward when looking at Biathlon betting. You are generally going to find straight single options to be taken on the outright winner of a given event.

Ante-post

What is nice to assess in thinking about how to bet Biathlon intelligently is finding a website which offers ante-post prices. That means well ahead of an event such as the Outright Winner in the Men’s World Cup a few months time, you may be able to find some bigger value than you will, come the final build-up to the actual start of the tournament. Why would that be?

Because the more that punters start getting interested and backing selections, the more prices are going to shift. If you have a favourite selection in the ante-post market, it can even be to your benefit to watch the odds to see for a while to see if they drift a little bit to try and get an even better price to back them at instead of waiting for last minute. Weigh all of this up though as the disadvantage is that you can’t apply form to ante-post markets.

Other Biathlon Options

So if you are looking at the IBU World Cup just for example or maybe the Olympics and you have found the right bookmaker then you could find yourself looking at other options. Some other common types of Biathlon bets which could be worth exploring for value are the Top 3 Finish, the Triple Head to Head and options for Team to lead at 1st, 2nd or 3rd exchange.

Betting intelligently on Biathlon really just takes a cool head and following your head and not your heart. Again it is a sport that you are not going to really be exploring a wide variety of different types of bets on. Just manage your bankroll wisely, and study all the statistics and form that you can get your hands on.