Military patrol at the 1936 Winter Olympics

At the 1936 Winter Olympics in Garmisch-Partenkirchen, Germany, a special event called military patrol was held. This event was not an official Olympic sport, but it took place because Adolf Hitler wanted to see it. The International Olympic Committee normally did not include this sport, but they agreed to let it be a demonstration sport for this Olympics.

Military patrol is seen as the beginning of the sport we now know as biathlon. It was a exciting competition where teams of skiers had to complete a course while being observed by judges.

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