The Effect of Competing at Home in Biathlon: Evidence from Sprint Races

Competing at home has a diverse effect on the athletes in different sport disciplines. Biathletes choke under pressure during the shooting but there is a positive effect in cross-country skiing, so in biathlon, as a mix of two disciplines the effect of competing at home is still unclear to the overall performance. Moreover, the result may vary for men and women due to the psychological difference between genders. The aim of this paper is to analyze the effect of competing at home on the biathletes’ performance during the sprint races. Secondary data of the biathlon competition and quantitative methods were used. The main tools that were applied to implement the practical part of the research are MS Excel and R Studio The data includes the results of sprint races for seven seasons from 2014/2015 to 2020/2021. In the first chapter of the study theoretical background of the effect of competing at home and biathlon performance were disclosed. The second chapter includes justification of research design, the choice of the data for the research and a description of the methodology that was applied. The third part provides the results of the analysis. At the end of the paper, a conclusion and recommendations for future research are written. The volume of the study is 31 pages, including the appendix.