How Maame Biney Embraces the Cold to Speed Skate Strong Going into the Beijing Games

In our Sleeping With… sequence, we ask folks from completely different profession paths, backgrounds, and levels of life how they make sleep magic occur.

Maame Biney is in pursuit of redemption. The velocity skater made historical past in 2018 when she grew to become the primary Black girl ever to make the U.S. Olympic velocity skating crew—however in the end had a disappointing debut in PyeongChang.

Biney, who was simply 18 on the time, completed 14th within the 500 meters and thirty first within the 1500 meters. After the video games, struggling emotionally and coping with an damage, Biney thought-about quitting the game for good, NBC studies.

However flash ahead to December of 2021 and all the pieces had modified. The College of Utah pupil competed on the U.S. Olympic Trials because the lone returning Olympian. And this time, Biney, who turns 22 on the finish of January, didn’t disappoint. The Ghanian-born athlete clinched her spot on Crew USA with a dominant victory within the 500 meters.

“It’s been a tough couple of years,” an emotional Biney told NBC after her win. “I’ve been by a lot mentally.”

Heading into the Trials, Biney stated she hoped to “glide” through the three-day championship, however her essential focus was profitable the five hundred meters. When the Pink Bull athlete completed her aim, a few of that strain appeared to carry. 

“I used to be very joyful about that,” Biney tells SELF, referring to the win that provides her an opportunity to compete in Beijing on the Winter Olympics subsequent month.

Whereas reflecting on the teachings from her Olympic debut 4 years in the past, Biney says she’s discovered to hone her psychological sport whereas trusting that her coach could have her bodily ready to deal with the competitors.

“I’m positively taking much more steps to determine the place my thoughts is and gauge what I have to do to be mentally ready for the Olympics,” Biney says.

One factor she’s doing, as an illustration, is utilizing the meditation app Headspace to kick off her morning with a constructive method. Biney says she’s additionally change into extra intentional about surrounding herself with uplifting folks and embracing joyful ideas, so she will be able to navigate life—and sport—with a powerful mindset.

That psychological fortitude might be essential when Biney hits the ice for the Winter Olympics subsequent month, the place she’s slated for the five hundred meters and three,000-meter relay—the latter occasion one which the People are focusing on for his or her first Olympic medal since 2010. SELF had the possibility to meet up with the athlete after she accomplished a exercise at her coaching base in Salt Lake Metropolis and talk about how her nighttime routine units her up for victory.

Round 10 p.m, the very first thing I do to wind down is take a bathe.

Relying on how arduous my coaching is and the way a lot I used to be sweating, I normally bathe as soon as a day, and that’s normally at evening to scrub away all the grime and stuff that’s on my physique. Scorching water feels superb, particularly within the winter.