Trying to be “as light as you can mentally and as heavy as you can physically” sounds like a paradox. But for American skeleton Katie Uhlaender, it’s a maxim she aspires to maintain.
A sport like skeleton is mostly mental, and Uhlaender tries to relax on the course while putting in the weightlifting work off of it.
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The same goes for the United States’ four-man bobsled team of Frankie Del Duca, Jimmy Reed, Carlo Valdes and Hakeem Abdul-Saboor. They have to find the right balance of maintaining the right amount of weight to maximize speed while also keeping a light sled that can zip around fast.
On Day 6’s episode of The Podium, the bobsled team and Uhlaender talk about the all-important weight factor in their respective sports, and the subtle movements that can account for pivotal hundredths of a second.
Uhlaender tells us about why thinking like Yoda from Star Wars is a strategy for skeleton, while the bobsled team describes the process of getting off to a fast start.
You can find new episodes of The Podium on Apple Podcasts.