Crossword Genius

Sports event in large Irish town neither completed (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

biathlon

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'sports event' is the definition.

'large irish town neither completed' is the wordplay.
'large' becomes 'bi' (I can't explain this - if you can you should believe this answer much more).
'irish town' becomes 'athlone' (I've seen this before).
'neither completed' means to remove the last letter (neither word is finished).
'athlone' with its final letter taken away is 'athlon'.
'bi'+'athlon'='BIATHLON'

'in' is the link.

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for biathlon that I've seen before include "Sport combining rifle shooting and cross-country skiing" , "Cross-country skiing/rifle shooting sports event" , "Contest in two events, like cycling and running" , "Winter sport involving rifles" , "Shooting contest by skiers with rifles" .)

I've seen this clue in The Telegraph.
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