Blind biathlon: what in the world?

I know that at least some of you must have asked that question when you first saw me mention "blind biathlon." Your first reaction was probably horror! Well, here is how it actually works.

First, to put your mind at ease, blind biathletes don't shoot with bullets, pallets or anything else tangible for that matter. We use an Eko rifle, which shoots with an invisible lazer beam. It's really a computer system. Second, we don't use our eyes to aim, we use our ears. The rifle comes with headphones, which emit a beeping sound when the rifle is not aimed at the target. The closer you get to the target, the faster the beeping. Once the sound becomes constant, you're on target. To find the bull's eye, you have to find the highest-pitched tone. And then you pull the trigger. Depending on whether your shot is a hit or a miss, you hear a certain sound, and a green or red light shows up on the target. 

  Training at the 2009 World Cup in Mt. Washington, photo courtesy of Tim Penney

Obviously, we don't carry the guns on our back as they are connected with lots of wires to the target, the headphones, the screen, etc. We also only shoot prone (lying on our stomach), probably because it would be too hard to find the target if we stand up with the gun. When we get to the shooting range, the gun is pointing roughly in the direction of the target, so we don't have to start searching for it "from scratch." 

In most other respects, blind biathlon is quite similar to able-bodied.

And that is basically how it works. This time, good night from Ottawa for real.

Blind skiing: a team sport

This is not "later that day," but life and training sometimes get in the way of blog-writing. That's ok though. Here's my first "explanatory" post.

I say blind skiing is a team sport because blind athletes ski with a guide who normally skies a little in front of them (no further than 3 to 5 metres ideally). The best guide-athlete teams are completely in sync with each other, that is, the athlete follows the guide's technique and movement exactly. This is very difficult to acheive and is only learned through countless hours of practice together. The McKeever brothers are the best example I've seen of guide-athelte sync.

Photo courtesy of George Tuira, posted with the permission of Brian and Robin McKeever

The guide's job is to act as the athlete's eyes. He or she calls out terrain changes, turns and any other useful information that the athlete would need to make it around the course quickly yet safely. This of course means that trust is the main component in the success of a guide-athlete team.

In blind skiing and biathlon, the guide receives the same recognition as the athlete, that is to say, if the athlete wins a medal at the Paralympic Games, so does the guide. This is the ultimate reason that blind skiing and bithlon are team sports.

I hope that was a helpful explanation of how guiding works. Until next time, good afternoon from Ottawa!