Why Olympians cross the time knitting : NPR

[ad_1] <img src="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2400x1350+0+0/resize/1100/quality/50/format/png/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F09%2F50%2F0ad10961495998503d4a8655428d%2Folympics-knit.png" data-template="https://npr.brightspotcdn.com/dims3/default/strip/false/crop/2400x1350+0+0/resize/{width}/quality/{quality}/format/{format}/?url=http%3A%2F%2Fnpr-brightspot.s3.amazonaws.com%2F09%2F50%2F0ad10961495998503d4a8655428d%2Folympics-knit.png" class="img" alt="Left: USA's Ben Ogden competes during the men's team cross country free sprint qualification on Wednesday. Right: Bronze medallist USA's Jessie Diggins celebrates on the podium for the women's cross-country skiing 10km interval start free event on Feb. 12. Both Olympians knit during their downtime between events." fetchpriority="high"/> Left: USA's Ben Ogden competes through the cross-country free dash on Wednesday. Proper: Bronze medallist USA's Jessie Diggins celebrates on the rostrum for the ladies's cross-country 10km. Each Olympians knit throughout their downtime between occasions. Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP by way of Getty Photographs conceal caption

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Anne-Christine Poujoulat/AFP by way of Getty Photographs Once you think about what an Olympic-level athlete would possibly pack to take to the Winter Video games, you in all probability think about issues like ski goggles and athletic gloves. For a rising variety of athletes, the packing checklist additionally contains knitting needles to sew the entire image collectively.

For them, knitting provides are a vital piece of psychological well being gear.

"We're very busy over right here throughout some factors. We even have lots of downtime," mentioned U.S. males's cross-country skier Ben Ogden.

"Throughout that downtime, it is important that we relaxation and put our ft up and loosen up to get the most effective out of our coaching and racing periods. So, for me, knitting is a good way to be fully relaxed, off my ft, and simply chilling with out simply taking a look at my cellphone on a regular basis."

Ogden this week grew to become the primary U.S. males's cross-country skier to win two Olympic silver medals. Within the dash traditional, his silver medal win marked the primary time an American man had positioned within the sport since 1976.

For all his depth on the monitor, nevertheless, the Olympic-podium-backflipping 25-year-old takes a extra mellow view on knitting.

"I think that is true for lots of athletes: I feel lots of us have very single-minded kind of brains, and we actually are inclined to fixate on issues slightly bit, which might be each a blessing and a curse," Ogden mentioned.

"It is nice when it comes time to work in your weaknesses and get higher, however when you may have a foul day, or one thing's bothering you and you are not feeling fairly proper, it may be actually draining to only be obsessing over it on a regular basis. And I discover that having a venture that you would be able to obsess over in a extremely productive approach is a brilliant important factor for me."

Ogden is hardly the primary elite-level athlete to show to knitting through the depth of competitors.

Group Finland famously knitted their approach by the 2018 Winter Video games. British Olympic diver Tom Daley went viral on the Tokyo 2021 video games for knitting within the stands throughout an occasion. And this 12 months, Canadian biathlete Adam Runnalls has developed a loyal following on his Instagram account, the place the Canadian biathlete posts his knitting feats alongside coaching content material.

Ogden picked up the behavior from his buddy and fellow U.S. skier Luci Anderson, who satisfied Ogden to knit himself a sweater quite than purchase one from the shop.

"I put on lots of logos as a part of my job, so I used to be actually curious about having some items that do not have any logos," Ogden mentioned.

"[Anderson] confirmed me a bunch of sweaters that she had made through the years, and I received tremendous motivated and purchased all of the yarn and all of the needles and stuff on the retailer in Switzerland. And yeah, I've simply been actually into it ever since."

Since then, Ogden has realized that extra of his teammates, together with Jessie Diggins and Julia Kern, prefer to unwind after a protracted day within the chilly with a skein of yarn and a pair of knitting needles. U.S. Alpine skier Breezy Johnson says she knits a brand new headband for each race. And U.S. snowboarder Maddie Mastro posted all of the tasks she knitted for these Video games.

"We hang around with the identical individuals and do the identical factor on a regular basis, and all of us are actually into snowboarding, however it may be tempting simply to speak about snowboarding at dinner, and at breakfast, and at lunch, and all of the downtime," Ogden mentioned.

"So having a shared passion amongst the teammates is a reasonably candy method to have one thing else to speak about and join with, and that does not trigger any stress or nervousness, and everyone can simply kind of take pleasure in."

Knitting's stress-relieving properties are well-documented. The deliberate, repetitive motion is discovered to assist decrease blood strain, lower signs of despair and even defend growing older brains from cognitive decline.

Ogden hopes that he and his knitting buddies can keep that easygoing spirit as their abilities within the craft enhance.

"Ideally, we would maintain it as a non-competitive factor. Typically when these hobbies change into aggressive, that is when it is time to drop it and transfer on to the following one," Ogden mentioned. "However to this point, knitting has been a pleasant, non-competitive outlet for all of us."

However the lack of competitors would not cease Ogden from setting targets for himself. He already is aware of what bold venture he needs to beat through the upcoming World Cup.

"I am already planning initially of subsequent season, in November after I come over, I am gonna get all these things to knit a cable knit sweater," he mentioned.