In the realm of international sports, âcompetitionâ is right there in the name--but time and again after biathlon events, one will see competitors from across borders clap each other on the shoulder in celebration after a hard win, or empathy after a bitter loss. Thereâs a time in recent memory when French leading man Martin Fourcade broke a competitorâs pole during a pass, then turned around to offer the competitor his own pole in replacement.Â
The Lithuanian in this video is even sweeter--his times are usually too slow to qualify for the World Cup mass start, and his first (to my knowledge) appearance in the race sees him stoop down to save a Czech competitor from having to return for a missing ski.Â
https://youtu.be/T7TWihCQgIAÂ
If you pressed me to develop a theory, Iâd tell you that while all sports are tests of strength and will, the shooting component of biathlon is exacting, binary, and humbling. Everyone slots into comfortable grooves, âT is fastest,â âV will usually finish strong but struggles on hills,â âL is a good shooter, but takes shots slowly,â --but every once in a while, wind will throw your shot away, and the expected finishing order will be overturned.Â
And I suppose that having been flat humbled by The Winds helps biathletes to see each other as competitors and simultaneously as peers, who can be knocked flat in a struggle against Nature, just as sure as we ourselves can. There but for the grace of a gust of wind go I--and so I will stoop to pick up your ski.Â