Olympic Biathlon Contender

Biathlon is simply the greatest sport in the world and it goes straight to the heart of military mountaineering. It takes extraordinary skills, conditioning and zen-like concentration to go from flat-out sprint to stable shooting position in just seconds.

That's why I was very happy to see a recent article in the New York Times that says we may actually have a viable American medal contender in the next Winter Olympics.

The Norwegian Home Guard school includes a 30-kilometer military biathlon as one of the culminating events of it's Ski School. It's a bit different than what you see on Eurosport - no skinny skis and race guns there. When I went through in 1991, they were still on wooden skis (allegedly required by the Norwegian Constitution) and winterized H&K G3s. The instructors said it was a "man's race." Skol!