Caffeine enhances endurance performance but may impair shooting accuracy, creating a potential trade-off for overall biathlon performance. In a randomized, placebo-controlled, crossover study, seven elite male biathletes consumed caffeine (3 mg/kg) or a taste-matched placebo 60 min before a simulated biathlon competition consisting of five "laps" of 6-min treadmill skiing interspersed with four five-shot bouts. Participants also performed precision shooting (20 prone and 20 standing) before and after the competition. Caffeine increased distance covered in Lap 1 (1824 +/- 73 vs. 1772 +/- 66 m; p = .03, dz = 1.12) and Lap 2 (1801 +/- 92 vs. 1776 +/- 84 m; p = .02, dz = 1.19) but did not improve total distance (p = .06). Blood lactate (p = .01, eta_p2 = .85) and ventilation (p < .001, eta_p2 = .90) increased with caffeine. Heart rate (p = .07) and perceived exertion (p = .69) did not differ between conditions. Caffeine impaired shooting accuracy in the standing position (72.9 +/- 16.0% vs. 82.9 +/- 7.6%; p = .03, dz = 0.87), but not in the prone position. Integrated race times did not differ between conditions for individual (71.72 +/- 5.27 vs. 71.58 +/- 4.57 min), mass start (52.45 +/- 3.67 vs. 52.57 +/- 3.27 min), or pursuit (44.18 +/- 3.18 vs. 44.23 +/- 2.83 min; all p > .77) formats. Caffeine impaired post-exercise precision shooting in the prone position (88.9 +/- 6.0% vs. 93.3 +/- 7.5%; p = .04, dz = 0.65). These findings highlight task-specific effects of caffeine and emphasize the importance of tailoring supplementation to integrated performance demands.
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