Abstract
Skiing in biathlon is a high-intensity, intermittent endurance discipline. This study aimed to evaluate the relationships between laboratory-derived physiological variables and skiing performance during a field-based biathlon competition (BC) for female and male biathletes. Fourteen female (23 ± 3 year, O2max 56 ± 4 mL·kg−1·min−1) and 14 male (24 ± 4 year, O2max 66 ± 3 mL·kg−1·min−1) biathletes performed a submaximal incremental test and a maximal time-trial (TT) using treadmill roller-skiing for the assessment of oxygen uptake at a lactate threshold of 4 mmol·L−1 (O2@4mmol), gross efficiency (GE), aerobic (MRae) and anaerobic (MRan) metabolic rates, peak oxygen consumption (O2peak), anaerobic capacity and TT performance. Field-based skiing performance was assessed during a BC. The TT and BC skiing performances were significantly correlated in both sexes (r = 0.68–0.69, p < 0.01). O2peak (31/21%), anaerobic capacity (1/0%), and GE (35/32%) explained 67 and 52% of the variance in BC skiing performance for the females (p < 0.01) and males (p = 0.051), respectively. A second model showed that O2@4mmol (30/35%), anaerobic capacity (0/0%) and GE (37/13%) explained 67 and 48% of the variance in BC skiing performance for the females (p < 0.01) and males (p = 0.077), respectively. Results of this study suggest that a high O2@4mmol and GE, but not anaerobic capacity, are important for BC skiing performance, especially for females. In addition, a laboratory-based TT could be useful for regular laboratory testing of biathletes due to its relationship with field-based skiing performance in biathlon.
Highlights
Biathlon is an Olympic endurance sport combining cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship
The V O2peak, V Emax and maximal blood lactate concentration (B-La) derived from the TT were higher for males compared to females, while the accumulated O2 deficit (AOD) only tended to be higher in males (p = 0.096)
V O2@4mmol and gross efficiency (GE) were significantly correlated to biathlon competition (BC) skiing performance in both sexes (Figures 1B,C), whereas MRae, MRan and AOD were not correlated to BC skiing performance for either sex (Table 3)
Summary
Biathlon is an Olympic endurance sport combining cross-country skiing and rifle marksmanship. In addition to a high V O2max, a well-developed economy or efficiency of movement reduces the overall energy cost during exercise (Joyner and Coyle, 2008) and might be as important to overall performance, as has been observed in cross-country skiing (Sandbakk et al, 2010; Andersson et al, 2017). Studies of cross-country skiing have shown that V O2max, the V O2 at lactate threshold and economy of movement are related to skiing performance in distance competitions covering 10 km (Mahood et al, 2001; Carlsson et al, 2016). Rundell and Bacharach (1995) showed with national-level biathletes that peak V O2 (V O2peak) and V O2 at the lactate threshold obtained during treadmill running exercise were associated with biathlon skiing performance in females, whereas no significant associations were found for the males. The average heart rate (HR) while skiing during a biathlon competition is high, at ∼ 90% of HRmax (Hoffman and Street, 1992)
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