Sport & ContestGreek → English
Biathlon
/baɪˈæθlɒn/noun
A winter sport combining cross-country skiing with rifle marksmanship at intervals along the course.
The Greek roots
ἆθλον
âthlon
contest, prize
Literally: “two contests”
Follow a root:ἆθλον10 words
The story of the word
Half Latin and half Greek: bi- for two, bolted to the Greek athlon. The sport grew out of Scandinavian military ski patrols, which is why competitors carry the rifle on their backs and shoot with their pulse still hammering from the climb. English took the name in the 1950s, just before the event entered the Winter Olympics at Squaw Valley in 1960.
- How it travelled
- Latin prefix + Ancient Greek → modern coinage → English
- First recorded
- 1950s
Same family
decathlontriathlonheptathlonpentathlon
In a sentence
Biathlon is the most watched winter sport on German television.
Two missed shots in the biathlon cost him a minute of penalty loop.