Earlier studies in biathlon standing shooting have revealed that body sway is related to rifle stability and associates to shooting accuracy (1, 2). However, discrepant findings exist about the effect of vertical and horizontal rifle sway on shooting accuracy (3). In addition, shooting accuracy in standing position tends to be slightly higher for TOP5 females (85 vs 82%) compared to males but no sex differences in shooting technical factors have been reported earlier. The present study aimed to compared how different shooting technical factors associates to BIA shooting performance between female and male biathletes.METHODS:17 female (22 (4) yr) and 16 male (22 (5) yr) Swedish biathletes including World Championship and Olympic medal winners were recruited. Shooting performance and technical factors were first determined at rest (2x5 shots), followed by 10 min warm-up and maximal double poling ergometer test for 1000 m to achieve the maximal heart rate (HRmax). After 10 min of passive recovery, the biathletes performed 2x5 min double poling exercise at 92 (1) % of the HRmax to simulate the physical exercise effort during biathlon competition (BCS) followed by 5-shots after both exercise bouts. Opto-electronical device was used to assess shooting accuracy (group size of the shots, GS, mm; average shooting result, RES, points) as well as horizontal (HOR) and vertical (VER) rifle speeds (mm/s), and triggering pressure (TRIG, %) during the last 0.2 s before each shot. Shooting was performed only in standing position. The effect of sex (female and male) and shooting condition (rest and exercise) was evaluated using 2-way ANOVA. Associations between shooting technical factors and shooting performance (GS and RES) were determined using Pearson’s correlation coefficient. Data is presented as mean (standard deviation).RESULTS:Shooting performance was higher for females at rest (GS 26 (9) vs 32 (11) mm; RES 7.2(1.0) vs 6.6 (1.4)) and after exercise (GS 26 (6) vs 32 (5) mm; RES 6.6 (1.1) vs 5.5 (1.5)) (both p<0.01). RES also decreased from rest to exercise in both sexes (p<0.01). HOR (p<0.01) and VER (p<0.001) increased from rest (HOR 8 (3) vs 10 (3) mm/s; VER 7 (2) vs 8 (3) mm/s) to exercise (HOR 11 (5) vs 13 (3) mm/s; VER 9 (2) vs 12 (2) mm/s) in both sexes but were lower for females (both p<0.05). No differences in triggering pressure were observed between shooting conditions or sexes. At rest, HOR and VER correlated significantly with GS (r=0.67 - 0.78, p<0.01) and RES (r=-0.59 - -0.87, p<0.05) in both sexes. After exercise, only VER was associated to GS (r=0.54) and RES (r=-0.61) for females whereas only HOR was associated to GS (r=0.80) and RES (r=-0.66, all p<0.01) for males.CONCLUSION:Females demonstrated slower rifle speed before triggering at rest which was also related to higher shooting performance compared to males. Different rifle motion pattern between sexes were observed during BCS which might explain the difference in shooting performance between sexes.