This is a pursuit competition. The biathletes' starts are separated by their time differences from a previous race, most commonly a sprint race.To be precise; the pursuit competition start intervals are determined by common rounding to the nearest whole second of the biathletes' time differences from the previous race – the amount of time each biathlete lagged after the winner to the finish line. The contestants ski a distance of over five laps. On four of the laps, the contestants shoot at targets; each miss requires the contestant to ski a penalty loop of . There are two prone shooting bouts and two standing bouts, in that order. The contestant crossing the finish line first is the winner.
