Military patrol at the 1936 Winter Olympics

Military patrol at the 1936 Winter Olympics

At the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, there was a special event called military patrol. This was not an official Olympic sport, but it happened because Adolf Hitler wanted to see it. The International Olympic Committee usually did not include this sport, but they allowed it to be a demonstration sport for these Olympics.

Military patrol is considered the start of the sport we now call biathlon. It was a fun competition where teams of skiers had to ski a course while judges watched.

The Italian team did very well in this event. Their success was celebrated by Benito Mussolini, who gave each team member 30,000 lira. This was important because it was the first time Italy had won first place in Nordic skiing at the Olympics. The military patrol event happened on February 14, 1936.