INTRODUCTION: A greater usage of gear 3 is associated with improved performance in cross-country skiing.1 However, it remains unclear whether rifle carriage in biathlon affects sub-technique choice, and therefore biathlon skiing performance. Therefore, this study aimed to investigate whether rifle carriage affects gear distribution during on-snow skiing in biathletes, and whether there are any associated sex differences. METHODS: Twenty-eight tier 3 biathletes 2 (17 men, 11 women) skied a 2230-m lap at competition speed twice, once with the rifle (WR) and once without the rifle (NR) in a counter-balanced and randomized order. The course was divided into seven uphill sections, three flat sections and seven downhill sections. The biathletes wore a portable 3D-motion analysis system while skiing, which together with GNSS data enabled the characterization of distance covered and time spent in gears 2-4 and skiing without poles (NP). A two-way mixed model ANOVA was used to investigate whether rifle carriage and/or sex influenced gear distribution or performance. RESULTS: Skiing WR increased the lap time compared to NR (412 (90) vs. 395 (91) s, p < 0.001). The biathletes used gear 2 to a greater extent during WR compared to NR (distance: 413 ± 139 vs. 365 ± 142 m; time: 133 (95) vs. 113 (86) s; both p < 0.001) and gear 3 to a lesser extent (distance: 713 ± 166 vs. 769 ± 182 m, p < 0.001; time: 141 ± 33 vs. 149 ± 37 s, p < 0.01) without differences in gear 4 or NP. The women demonstrated a greater proportional use of gear 2 compared to the men (p < 0.05). For the two longest uphill sections, the uphill with a more moderate incline (4.5°) revealed more differences between WR and NR in the use of gears 2 and 3 compared to the uphill with a steeper incline (6.7°). Increased usage of gear 2 (distance and time) was also negatively related to performance during WR and NR (r = 0.516-0.901, p < 0.01). DISCUSSION/CONCLUSION: Rifle carriage decreases the distance covered and time spent in gear 3 and increases these metrics in gear 2, and the use of gear 2 was negatively related to performance. Rifle carriage had a greater impact on gear distribution when skiing in moderate uphill terrain, where changes between gears 2 and 3 were more common, compared to in steeper terrain. This information can be useful for athletes and coaches when developing and optimizing sport-specific biathlon training to improve performance.
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