The Podium: How to think light and race heavy

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.

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.